Mel doesn't recognise the pope. He's the old kind of Catholic, services in Latin.
You've got your hat on backwards. It the Catholic Church, approved by the Chinese Communist government, that doesn't recognize the Holy See, and yet the pope recognizes them. Now that IS backasswards.
Further, it is not forbidden by the pope to attend a Tridentine ( Latin ) Holy Mass. It had been the universally approved rite of the One True Church for the past seven hundred years - until the V2 socialists turned Catholicism on it head and created the New Order Mass - which is driving the faithful out of the Church throughout the world.
Further, observing and revering pre-1962 Sacred Dogma and Traditions is an obligation for every Roman Catholic.
You may recall it was Gibson who sought and received approval from the Vatican, before the release of The Passion of The Christ. Initially, two cardinals gave it a thumbs-up, and then tried to backtrack on their comments. The pope finally saw the film making the comment "....it is as it was....".
It would be appropriate to formally withdraw your uninformed comment, but I won't hold my breath. 'I'm sorry' isn't in the lexicon of most FReepers.