Mel Gibson's Father Buys Home in W.Va.

SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. - The father and stepmother of Mel Gibson, whose epic film "The Passion of the Christ" opened Wednesday, have bought a home in West Virginia, according to records in the Nicholas County Clerk's office.

Joye Gibson bought the house and a nearby lot for $76,250 in October, according to court records obtained by The Nicholas Chronicle. The family moved into the yellow one-story home in November, neighbors said.

On Tuesday, a man at the home who identified himself as Hutton Gibson's nephew told the newspaper his uncle was out of the state.

"He's not here and won't be back until May," Patrick Gibson said. "He came here to live so he could have some privacy."

The Gibsons' move to West Virginia comes as the much-anticipated "The Passion of the Christ" hits theaters. Some Jewish leaders say the film could foster anti-Semitism for its portrayal of Jews' role in the Crucifixion, while conservative Christians have praised it as a moving depiction of Christ's death.

Hutton Gibson fueled that fire even more in recent interviews by saying the Holocaust was overdramatized and that Jews are trying to take over the world. The 85-year-old follows a tiny wing of traditionalist Catholicism that views the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council as a conspiracy between Jews and Masons to take over the church.

Patrick Gibson said he has received at least 76 phone calls from people seeking comment from Hutton Gibson.

"They're making him look bad - all the news media - and he's not. I just love him to death," he said.

Mel Gibson, who produced, directed and co-wrote the film, has said repeatedly that he's not anti-Semitic and that the project was a deeply personal expression of his own faith.