Mel Gibson: Philandering Fundamentalist?

April 16, 2009 — -- Apparently, there are multiple Mel Gibsons.

There's the actor-producer-director, whose wife of 28 years filed for divorce Monday, who was spotted frolicking with a blonde woman on his $26 million Costa Rican ranch Tuesday, who may or may not be engaged in an affair with a Russian musician.

Then there's the traditionalist Catholic who funneled $42 million into building Malibu's Church of the Holy Family, who has talked extensively about his belief in pre-Vatican II values, who, during his 2006 DUI arrest, famously ranted, "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."

Both are back in the spotlight after his wife Robyn Gibson's divorce filing.

While it's unclear if possible infidelity on the 53-year-old actor's part led to her decision to end their marriage, recent photographs of Gibson with women in Boston and Costa Rica, and reports that he engaged in a relationship with Russian singer Oksana Pochepa have fueled speculation that he wasn't faithful.

Gibson's publicist declined to comment on reports of the actor's alleged romantic affairs Wednesday.

The image of Gibson as a possible lothario stands in stark contrast to the church founder. Gibson created the A.P. Reilly Foundation in 1999 to fund the creation of his church, which a decade later still remains under construction on a 16-acre property in the mountains northwest of Los Angeles.

The Church of the Holy Family believes in the pre-Vatican II form of Catholicism. It has not been recognized by the Los Angeles Diocese.

The traditionalist form of Catholicism the church preaches grew out of the split within the Catholic Church following the passage of Vatican II in the 1960s, which attempted to modernize the church by doing away with mass in Latin and reconciling with the Jews.

Some notable traditionalists have been accused of anti-Semitism. They include the Rev. Stephen Somerville, who was Gibson's spiritual adviser during the filming of "The Passion of the Christ." Somerville, according to Southern Poverty Law Center, was suspended by the Vatican in 2004 for his divisive preaching. Gibson's father, Hutton, who is also a traditionalist, has publicly expressed doubts that 6 million Jews were really murdered in the Holocaust.

"These people see themselves as an enclave of Catholic purity amongst a church that has become too liberal and a culture that rejects God's word," said Stephen Kent, professor of new and alternative religions at the University of Alberta.

Divorce Contrary to Gibson's Catholicism

That means the Church of the Holy Family only conducts masses in Latin. Women are required to wear skirts or dresses to church and keep their heads covered. And divorce, as in most sects of Catholicism, is looked down upon.

"Divorce is a huge break with the faith," said Christopher Noxon, who visited and reported on Gibson's church for the New York Times magazine in 2003. "The intactness of the family and the sanctity of marriage are values that traditionalists hold most dear. I can't imagine that anyone in the traditionalist world is looking very favorably on Mel right now."

Noxon described the Church of the Holy Family's "small congregation" as a "weird mix of Malibu celebrity hangers-on and east San Fernando Valley, very white, very conservative Catholics."

He speculated that news of Gibson's potential divorce would cast doubt on his faith among other traditionalists.

"There are plenty of traditionalists who never trusted him to begin with, and for them, they'll probably look at the divorce as further evidence that he's just a Hollywood nihilist and not really one of them," Noxon said.

Gibson's soon-to-be ex-wife does not share his Catholic beliefs, though their seven children are part of the church, according to Noxon. In 2004, the actor told Australia's Herald Sun that, because she's not a traditionalist Catholic, Robyn Gibson is probably going to hell.

"There is no salvation for those outside the church," Gibson said. "I believe it. ... Put it this way: My wife is a saint. She's a much better person than I am. Honestly. She's, like, Episcopalian, Church of England. She prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff. And it's just not fair if she doesn't make it. She's better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair. I go with it."

Hell of a Divorce in Store for Gibson?

But before that, Robyn Gibson could give him one hell of a divorce battle. Because the two didn't sign a prenuptial agreement before their 1980 marriage, she stands to inherit half of his estimated $900 million fortune. Among his list of assets: a $15 million island in Fiji, a $12 million home in Malibu, and, of course, that $42 million church.

ABC News' Luchina Fisher contributed to this report.