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.

[af_vet_1981]

Uh....I hate to break this to you,since you're obviously looking for an excuse to call me an anti-Semite, but I'm in a mixed marriage.... my wife is Jewish. My kids are Jewish. Bar Mitzvahs and the whole deal.

No really that's okay. Just tell the truth and I'm fine with it.

We celebrate Christmas and Hannukkah in December, Easter and Passover in the Spring and Rosh Hashannah in the fall.

Have you considered adding the Id alAdha, Id alFitr, or Ramadan to your observances ?

We both are looking forward to seeing this film because we think it will be a great piece of cinema.

As an added bonus you get to view the previews in the media.

Neither of us approve of bashing a religion as "antiquated" or "fringe" just because we disagree with it.

Really ? That is very progressive of you. I'll take you at your word.

I'm simply noting that calling a small, or unpopular, religion "fringe" or "antiquated" in a major news outlet potentially opens the door to casting other such religions in a negative light.

I can see you would not want to cast another religion in a negative light.

[sinkspur]

This priest received a proclamation from the Pope for his dedicated life to the priesthood.

Which Pope? There are Tridentine Indult Masses, which are approved by the local bishop. There are parishes run by the Fraternity for the Society of St. Peter which celebrate all of the sacraments from the 1962 Missal. These are in union with Rome.

Those who worship at SSPX Masses reject the authority of the Pope over them and follow a successor the the excommunicated Marcel Lefebvre, who led his SSPX out of the Catholic Church in 1988.

[Pyro7480]

Are you talking about Mater Ecclesiae?

[Jim Cane]

...And Rome is not in union with The Word. What'ryegonnadoo?

[sinkspur]

It is considered an INTERNAL matter of the Catholic Church.

That doesn't mean that the SSPX is any less schismatic.

[sinkspur]

Is Mel going to hell for not being in union with Rome?

Mel's salvation is Mel's business.

[Lonely NY Conservative]

Of the two quotes you provided, the first one does seem to at first look be compelling evidence that he is not in union with Rome. The second quote (on the results of Vatican II) is something that might be uttered by many faithful Roman Catholics who truly believe that a liberal hijacking of the implementation of Vatican II led to many of the abuses cited.

I actually took the time to look up the article you linked from Newsmax - interestingly the quote you attributed to Gibson was not his words, but those of the author. The full quote was:

Actor Mel Gibson, a staunchly orthodox Roman Catholic who will play Christ in an upcoming movie, says the Vatican is a "wolf in sheep's clothing" and that he doesn't believe in the present-day Church as an institution.

Since the author doesn't have a clue what the word "orthodox" means in this context, I don't know whether I trust his interpretation of Gibson's position in regard to such a nuanced issue.

It always seemed odd to me that if Gibson were truly a sedevacantist or other schismatic that he would speak so glowingly about the prospect of his daughter attending Franciscan University in Steubenville (a VERY Orthodox Catholic school) and potentially becomming a nun. I choose to reserve judgment until I hear from Gibson himself on the matter.

P.S. - I assume that your misattribution of the quote was a mistake made for the sake of brevity.

[dixiepatriot]

>>I'm rebuking Hutton Gibson's Holocaust Denial and antisemitism.

I don't think he's denying that the Holocaust took place. He just questions some of the numbers and events that are accepted as gospel. There's nothing wrong with that.

[Maximilian]

They ARE universally accepted within the Catholic Church.

No, counting the people who were attending Mass at the time of Vatican II, 80% have voted with their feet to reject Vatican II and all it stands for, most especially the atrocious "New Mass." And those who still go are generally very dissatisfied with the state of the Church. One would be a lot closer to the truth to say "Vatican II has been universally rejected except by a small coterie of liberals, especially in the hierarchy, who are quickly dying out, thank God."

[leprechaun9]

"Which Pope?"

The present Pope, the Bishop of Rome, resident in the Vatican City!

[Pyro7480]

It always seemed odd to me that if Gibson were truly a sedevacantist or other schismatic that he would speak so glowingly about the prospect of his daughter attending Franciscan University in Steubenville (a VERY Orthodox Catholic school) and potentially becomming a nun. I choose to reserve judgment until I hear from Gibson himself on the matter.

Good find! Where did you read this? His daughter is going to stay Catholic, though Mel probably isn't too find of the Charismatic inclination of Steubenville.

[Lonely NY Conservative]

Before you bash me - mea culpa. The article does cite Mel's direct quote farther down and I jumped to conclusions. Definitely supports your opinion.

[sinkspur]

No, counting the people who were attending Mass at the time of Vatican II, 80% have voted with their feet to reject Vatican II and all it stands for, most especially the atrocious "New Mass." And those who still go are generally very dissatisfied with the state of the Church. One would be a lot closer to the truth to say "Vatican II has been universally rejected except by a small coterie of liberals, especially in the hierarchy, who are quickly dying out, thank God."

How do you account for the one billion Catholics who belong to the Church today?

Your interpretation of the situation is, of course, your interpretation.

The number of people who attend the Tridentine Mass in the United States is less than a million; the number of Catholics is over 62 million.

[kcvl]

It was such a secret that it took me less than a minute to find this...



New church planned for Mulholland in rural Agoura

By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

January 17, 2002

A Catholic group known as the Holy Family Chapel wants to build a new church in rural Agoura.

If approved by the Los Angeles Department of Regional Planning, the 9,310 square-foot, two-story church would be constructed at 30188 W. Mulholland Highway, between Sierra Creek and Kanan roads.

Also located on the 17-acre site in the scenic Santa Monica hills is a smaller, 30-year-old church currently undergoing renovation.

Although not affiliated with the Vatican, Holy Family Chapel observes traditional Catholic doctrine, practices and customs. Sunday mass is conducted in Latin.

The A.P. Reilly Foundation, a private organization, is funding the project. The estimated costs of the new church and renovation of the older one weren’t available.

"Some people were curious as to what the A.P. Reilly Foundation was, what kind of church it was. There was some confusion about that," said Patricia Lin, a Los Angeles County staff planner who attended a Dec. 12 public hearing on the project.

The area is zoned residential, but churches are allowed if they get a conditional use permit.

Planning commissioners tabled their decision to issue a permit until Feb. 13 and directed the foundation to clarify the church’s operations and respond to community questions.

A community meeting on the project is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at Seminole Park on Mulholland Highway.

The parish serves Conejo Valley, West San Fernando Valley and Malibu and currently has 70 parishioners.

The new building includes a 256-seat sanctuary and a 40-seat chapel. The existing church has a 170-seat assembly area that will be used for discussion groups.

"Their plan is not to have a huge church there. However, neighbors are concerned it will grow because the church is built on such a site where it can grow to a few hundred people," Lin said.

Tim Riley, a land-use consultant for A.P. Reilly, doubts that will happen.

"They expect some growth but not explosive growth because it’s kind of a specialized area of the Catholic belief," Riley said.

In addition to Mass on Sundays, the church will observe the six Holy Days of Obligation. It also expects about a dozen special events during the calendar year such as weddings, funerals, picnics, a St. Patrick’s Day celebration and a youth day.

Architects and landscape designers hope to give the buildings and the grounds the look of a California mission. Documents reportedly indicate that Spanish missionaries actually visited the site at the time they were founding their missions.

The church has three full-time employees; two of them live in a caretaker’s residence on the site.

[toddst]

I think the most important thing is that Gibson's chapel needs to be in union with God and the Bible. If it is, then there is no problem.

Very well stated. Bravo.

[bray]

Mel's church is considered antiquated because the priests are not queer and attacking the alter boys!! Not like those "progressive" NE parishes where as long as your not sleeping with women your celibate!

Pray for W and The Truth

[Pyro7480]

I think the most important thing is that Gibson's chapel needs to be in union with God and the Bible. If it is, then there is no problem.

While this statement is doctrinally Protestant, I understand the sentiment.

[Pyro7480]

Which parish are you talking about? Mater Ecclesiae, near Camden?

[Just mythoughts]

The majority has never been right.

Check out what our Heavenly Father told Gideon...

Judges 7:2 And the LORD said unto Gideon, "The People that are with thee are too many for ME to give the Midianites into the hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, "Mine own hand hath saved me.'

Then our Heavenly Father did some thinning.

[af_vet_1981]

I don't think he's denying that the Holocaust took place. He just questions some of the numbers and events that are accepted as gospel. There's nothing wrong with that.

That is not true. You should recheck the facts.