Controversy: Traditionalist Catholicism
Another controversy, less often discussed, is that Mel Gibson is a follower of 'traditionalist Catholicism' - an ultra-conservative sect of Catholicism:
What sets traditionalist Catholics apart to the average lay person is that they celebrate Mass in Latin and believe that no other language should be used during the church service.
Nationwide, the number of traditionalist Latin Mass sites has grown to 524, up 100 from almost a decade ago, according to the National Registry of Latin Masses.
Traditionalist Catholicism was born as a reaction to the landmark Second Vatican Council of 1962-65, when the Roman Catholic Church attempted to make the religion more accessible. For example, Catholic leaders said Mass can be celebrated in any language of the people; women can perform some liturgical duties; and celebrants can receive the Eucharist sacrament from lay people instead of priests. Traditionalists object to all of those changes.
[...] Most of the traditionalist splinter groups around the world are not welcomed by the Roman Catholic Church because of their hard-line views.
[...]
[T]he movement is popular in pockets of the Bay Area, especially with old-time San Jose Catholics and new immigrants in the Latino, Filipino and Vietnamese communities, said the Rev. Daniel Cooper, head priest of the St. Aloysius retreat. In addition to the Los Gatos center, where 300 worshipers attend on any given Sunday, Cooper said there are a handful of unsanctioned Latin Mass services in the South Bay, Sacramento and Stockton.
Traditionalist Catholicism is most active in the Midwest's Bible Belt.
[...]
It's not surprising, experts say, that fundamentalism of any kind exists in the most liberal region of the country.
``It's precisely because they're in the belly of the beast that they want to solidify,'' said William Dinges, a Catholic University of America professor and the nation's expert on Roman Catholic traditionalists.
``The West is the most unchurched part of the country, a fertile mecca for sex cults and New Ageism, as they see it. They want a world where things aren't wishy-washy, where things are either right or wrong.'
Out of 63 million Roman Catholics nationwide, conservative Christian groups estimate there may be about 15 million traditionalists.
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In the traditionalist Catholic world, there are no shades of gray in the issues of abortion and contraception, and women can't perform liturgical duties. Believing in purgatory is a must. Eating meat on Fridays is forbidden. Women must wear head coverings in church. Strumming a guitar at church or a pastor entertaining the parish with jokes are seen as silly if not sacrilegious.
Also, traditionalists don't believe in reaching out to other Christian faiths and are angry the Second Vatican Council changed its official opinion of non-Catholics from heretics'' to recognizing them asseparate brethren.''
The pope is infected with modernism,'' complained Eileen Allen, 45, of Oregon who recently attended a women's workshop at the Los Gatos retreat.By that I mean ecumenism, that all religions are equal to the Catholic Church. That's not true. The Catholic Church is the one that Christ founded. Other denominations are man-made.''
Although the convictions about abortion, Communion and purgatory are still the official positions of the Roman Catholic Church, the majority of mainstream Catholics hold somewhat more progressive views, scholars say. Also, Dinges said a key difference is that traditionalists often want to ``cast out'' anyone who doesn't take these religious rules literally.
They are angry that the bishops and the church authority haven't taken a harder line on dissenting Catholics,'' Dinges said.The great irony though, is that they are bucking papal authority. They are holding themselves up as self-appointed watchdogs of Catholic orthodoxy and are in open conflict with the Vatican.''
Source: Small but growing number of Catholics returns to rigid rules, Latin masses BY Lisa Fernandez, Knight Ridder Newspapers