I was thinking about that myself... but then isn't being a Catholic include alcoholic, prideful sinners.
I thought that if a person was truly repentant, attoned for his sins by taking the penalties for his actions, asking forgiveness to those he sinned against and finally didn't repeat the sin when given the opportunity to do it again.... this would place him at one with the Lord and he can stand as a man with Christ.
It seems that Mel was and still may be a Catholic, so why trash the guy? He tried to be a "good" Catholic.
Which is a lot more than can be said about me. I walked away without looking back and took a couple decades to be brought back to Christianity through a true friend and brother. I thought that the whole point of Christianity was belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, that his death was somehow an atonement for my sins and that the only way to salvation is through a faith in God and that he is the only reason I am here on this earth and to honor that gift.
I am still not a good Catholic or Christian. I suck at forgiveness, have pride, allow matters of this world to supersede matters of my Lord, am lazy and hypocritical. I am just hoping and praying that somehow the Lord finds it in his heart to forgive me... but I don't think questioning Mel's faith is very helpful.
I didn’t think I was trashing Mel or questioning his faith. I have no clue what he truly believes or where he stands with the Lord. I am not on that committee. Nor did I particularly feel that I was being so much judgmental as pointing out the obvious within the context of “Hollywood.” Gibson was the only openly Catholic Hollywood celebrity I could think of as the question arose of Hollywood’s displeasure with the new Bishop.
Mel was (maybe still is) a member of a very Orthodox branch of Catholicism who left his wife of nearly 30 years who mothered his 7 children for a younger woman with whom he was consorting rather publicly. That behavior strikes me as more “Hollywood” than “Catholic,” much less orthodox Catholic. That’s all I’m sayin’
More pertinent to real life is your own finding your own way back .. and my own ability to feel eligible one day to withstand His judgment.