RELIGIOUS MAN

Mel Gibson is a very religious man. His parents were devout Catholic of solid Irish stock. Mel´s father had an extremely strong influence on how the family was brought up. Hutton´s own father had been very religious and had passed this into his son, so the Faith was a strong feature of the Gibson household.

Some years ago the actor and his wife, Robyn, erected a private chapel in the back yard of his home in Malibu, Calif., where Gibson family used to attend Mass every Sunday and Mel personally used to lead the rosary every day.

Since 1999 Mel is an active member of a catholic group known as the Holy Family

This group has no formal ties with the Vatican, but observes traditional Catholic doctrine, practices and customs. The movement, affiliated with Catholic Traditionalism, provides the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and other sacraments, in the traditional Latin rite (Tridentine rite) of the Roman Catholic Church and seeks to revive orthodoxy uncorrupted by theological and social changes and to preserve the old Mass in order to preserve the Catholic faith.
In 2000, Gibson founded the A.P. Reilly foundation in memory of his deceased mother, Ann Reilly. Its initial Assets: $5,139,487. The Foundation now claims total net assets of $14 million. In 2003 the A. P. Reilly Foundation funded the building of a new church: The Holy Family Chapel.
The building includes a 256-seat sanctuary and a 40-seat chapel. In addition to Mass on Sundays, the church observes the six Holy Days of Obligation and some special events during the calendar year such as weddings, funerals, picnics, a St. Patrick's Day celebration and a youth day. The Holy Family Chapel currently has 70 parishioners.
Documents reportedly indicate that Spanish missionaries actually visited this site at the time they were founding their missions.

The Holy Family Chapel is registered as INDEPENDENT. The chapel is private and the service is restricted to its members.

"The Passion of the Christ", his long-time cherished project and last film, is a public statement of his Catholic Faith and determination to expand it worldwide.

"Making The Passion of The Christ is the most difficult thing I´ve done. Watching it is harder. It´s difficult because Christ´s Passion was difficult. But in watching it, I´ve found it actually purged me. It somehow heals me to watch it. It´s a strange thing - I have never experienced a flm like it. The words of God are what heals my wound. My aim is to profoundly change people. The audience has to experience the harsh reality to understand it. I want to reach people with a message of faith, hope, love and forgiveness. Christ forgave them even as he was tortured and killed. That´s the ultimate example of love."

Mel Gibson has always expressed his strong religious beliefs about controversial matters such as stem-cell research, euthanasia, birth control and abortion. He´s a fervent follower of the so-called pro-life movement. "Abortion?. It´s inhuman because it destroys life." Mel answers whenever he´s asked about this subject. He recently campaigned for Terry Shiavo´s life. "We may be able to save a few Social Security dollars later on down the track simply by pulling the plug on the infirmed or the disabled or the aged. It's the inevitability of gradualism... There is an agenda, and people say 'Well, they can't all be in it together,' but there's no other way to explain this behavior."

He also fighted against famous California Prop. 71. "Adult stem cell research I'm all for it. I'll give my own stem cells to somebody if they want it but I can't condone the use of embryo cells for scientific research," he said during an exclusive interview with Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America." Last December.

As a guide of how important religion is in Mel´s life, we can summarize it in a couple of sentences: "This life is just a testing ground. It's not a popular view, I know. People will…say that I'm a sort of mindless robot who's using religion as a crutch to get through life. Well, I'm not a mindless robot, but I am using (religion) as a crutch to get through life."

"I think I just hit my knees," Gibson told Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview on ABCNEWS' Primetime. "I just said, 'Help.' You know? And then, I began to meditate on it, and that's in the Gospel. I read all those again. I remember reading bits of them when I was younger."

ZACK SINCLAIR.- THE MAN WHO WANTED TO PRAY WITH MEL GIBSON
Sinclair's sketchy behavoir started Sept. 17, when the man demanded to see the actor, "saying that he wanted to pray with me," complained Gibson. Sinclair was told to go away at the time, but the alleged harassment was just beginning.
Two days later, Sinclair wandered into Gibson's church, "approached me, interrupted my worship, stood extremely close (approximately six inches) from me and demanded that I pray with him."
On Sept. 20, perhaps seeking a more impromptu prayer session, Sinclair showed up at the Braveheart star's Malibu digs sans invitation.
That incident led police to corral the persistent fan for trespassing. Gibson sought a restraining order barring Sinclair from coming into contact with him.
Last June (6-22-2005) Sinclair was sentenced to a maximum of three years in California state prison.

"I´m not courageous, I´m terrified. I´ve been terrified my whole life. When I was a kid, my family was persecuted for being Catholics. It happens to everybody, they are persecuted for what they are by somebody else who´s not them, and it´s horrible."

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"Jesus Christ was beaten for our iniquities. He was wounded for our transgressions and by his wounds we are healed."

"Everyone's got something, I would get addicted to anything, anything at all. Okay? Doesn't matter what it is … drugs, booze, anything. You name it - coffee, cigarettes, anything. Alright? I'm just one of these guys who is like that. That's my flaw... I checked into a few places, and sorted myself out," Gibson said. "I didn't make a big noise about it. There's no point in doing that. You know? I mean, the real medal goes to my wife, who's a wonderful woman."

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