Mel Gibson: $5 Mil to Fringe Church (FOX attacks "antiquated Catholic ideology")

FOX ^ | Friday, February 20, 2004 | By Roger Friedman

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Mel Gibson's put his money where his mouth is. By now everyone in the world knows he's spent $25 million to make "The Passion of the Christ" and promised nearly $25M more to market it.

But what you may not know is that Gibson has also put up $5.1 million so far to run his own personal church near Malibu.

Last year Christopher Noxon wrote in The New York Times that Gibson had donated $2.3 million to make Holy Family Catholic Church in Agoura Hills, California a reality. Holy Family rejects the universally accepted teachings of the Second Vatican Conference and chooses to stick with antiquated Catholic ideology.

Bu it turns out that Gibson has donated a little more than twice that amount to Holy Family since 1999, according to federal tax filings. And that's not counting 2003, since the most recent report has not yet been filed.

Gibson and his wife Robyn are listed in federal tax records as directors of the Holy Family Catholic Church. The church is run out of Gibson's Icon Production company offices, with an Icon employee responsible for keeping the church's books.

The Gibsons' tax-free donations to Holy Family are made possible by a charity they established called the AP Reilly Foundation, which is named for Mel's late mother. The foundation was created on October 29, 1999 for the sole purpose of creating the church.

The church, by the way, has an unlisted phone number, keeps its address a secret and has asked those who have the information not to release it.

Gibson is no stranger to controversy when it comes to voicing his opinion about his religious beliefs. In a 1992 interview with the Spanish magazine El Pais, his comments about homosexuals — which cannot be printed here — caused an international stir.

In the same interview Gibson talked about the fact that his brand of Traditionalist Catholics did not subscribe to the Second Vatican Council's 1965 rulings on various subjects including who was responsible for the death of Jesus Christ.

[Siobhan]

Thank you, colleen and narses. The sinkspur has been found out but is persistent in doing what he has been bidden to do.

[sinkspur]

The sinkspur has been found out but is persistent in doing what he has been bidden to do.

If you aren't aware that Gibson is outside union with Rome, you need to read more. He's said it himself.

[american colleen]

Where? Direct quotes please, not something that is said about him by someone else.

[american colleen]

--- The screening that made Gibson most anxious was at Fulco’s university in Los Angeles, where 400 Jesuits watched it during a gathering at Loyola Marymount. Gibson explained to Boyer why he and Lauer were so nervous: “We’re Catholics, right? We’re scared of the Jesuits. Every good Catholic is.” --- from The Tablet 02/21/04 edition.

Jesuit advisors on the set... special screening for the pope and some in the vatican... screenings for some of the catholic bishops in the USA... special showings for many protestant groups... and none so far as I can tell for the leaders of any so called "schismatic" Catholic groups. And you know we'd know about it right away.

[sinkspur]

"For 1,950 years [the church] does one thing and then in the '60s, all of a sudden they turn everything inside out and begin to do strange things that go against the rules," he told El Pais.

"Everything that had been heresy is no longer heresy, according to the [new] rules. We [Catholics] are being cheated... The church has stopped being critical. It has relaxed. I don't believe them, and I have no intention of following their trends.

Found here.

Gibson does not believe in the Church led by John Paul II.

[Antoninus]

Holy Family rejects the universally accepted teachings of the Second Vatican Conference and chooses to stick with antiquated Catholic ideology.

This is just bad reporting. I'd wager that Holy Family rejects the "spirit of Vatican II" which has nothing to do with the actual teachings of Vatican II but is used by liberal Catholics to introduce new and heretical ideas and practices.

Vatican II didn't "change" anything in terms of Church teaching. However, Vatican II was used by liberals to bring about changes that most of the members of the Council never envisioned. It's similar to what activist liberal judges have done to the Constitution.

And, generally speaking, THIS is the reason why Mel Gibson and others have rebelled against crypto-schismatic dioceses like Los Angeles.

[Mershon]

And of course, as everyone knows, the truth is determined by the majority and statistics!!!

[Mershon]

Ah yes, the ole "fortress mentality" reasoning. And opening the doors to the outside--look at the wonderful results. More will be displayed in the press on Friday. "By their fruits, you shall know them."

[Mershon]

Eighty percent did not leave due to Vatican II and the New Mass. Most left because of Humanae Vitae after years of priests and theologians in the 1960s telling them it was OK to use contraception. After the 1968 issue of the encyclical, many decided to change their religion rather than their internal urges.

[Maximilian]

Eighty percent did not leave due to Vatican II and the New Mass. Most left because of Humanae Vitae after years of priests and theologians in the 1960s telling them it was OK to use contraception.

It's true that the 2 isues are closely related. But you have your facts wrong. The data show clearly that decline started before 1968, and it was already in full bloom by the time Humanae Vitae was released. Long before Humanae Vitae, the New Mass in the vernacular and the other changes associated with Vatican II had started to drive away a large proportion of the Catholic population.

Besides the statistics, look at it from a spiritual point of view: How was it possible for bishops, priests and lay people publicly to deny and dissent from an essential Catholic doctrine? Only someone who had already fallen from a state of grace could do so. The reaction to Humanae Vitae could never and would never have occurred prior to Vatican II.

[sinkspur]

And opening the doors to the outside--look at the wonderful results. More will be displayed in the press on Friday. "By their fruits, you shall know them."

The worst abusers (Shanley, Geoghan, Porter) were all ordained before Vatican II.

[sinkspur]

And of course, as everyone knows, the truth is determined by the majority and statistics!!!

In the Catholic Church, the truth is found in union with the Pope and bishops, not this "personal choice" Catholicism that Gibson pursues.

[american colleen]

Sink those are quotes taken out of context that are attributed to him and are found all over the internet in various stages of decomposition. I believe the NYT is the originator. I believe nothing I read in the newspapers unless it is by a reputable person and I mostly actually go by his own words from the many interviews he does.

People call him a trad and in once newspaper account it stated: "traditionalists do not recognize the validity of Vatican II" - which is just not true.

My parish priest calls me a traditionalist.

There was a Mass said every day on the set of "The Passion of Christ" the Jesuits on set attended as did Jim Caveziel - who is definitely not SSPX (if that's what you think Gibson is).