Ahh well your point on the Irish is well taken. The Catholics and Orange do not get along at all - although that is very specific, as I suspect your in-laws only have issues with British Protestants. One of my best friends - he lives in Nothern Ireland and his father spent over 20 years in prison for being in the IRA.... my friend does not like the Protestants in Ireland, but doesn't care one way or the other about those in the USA.
When I read this I was thinking are sure there are actually a billion Catholics in the world. I looked it’s actually over 1.4 billion. Surprised me. I was raised catholic and have been to Rome 3 times now. But if I had to pick something I would say I like Buddhism. Shrug
I belong to a fraternal organization called The ancient Order of Hibernians. Although maybe in my local Hibernians there are probably about 10% born in Ireland. Of course, the other 90% have traceable roots and are Catholic. Being Catholic is a necessary for membership. Out of those 90% with roots I would say half of them have a stigma against Protestants for some strange reason. I will say that probably 50% of that 90% are Trumpers so it explains it. Some just love to hate anything Mother England. I play darts on Monday nights and my favorite beer to drink used to be Newcastle Brown Ale. Some SOB complained that it was English, so they took it off the tap rotation. Silly stuff. Funny thing that my Hibernian brothers do not know is I grew up Episcopalian but converted to Catholicism when my son was born. Wife wanted him brought up Catholic as she is, so I switched. Took what they called an RCIA class every Tuesday for 8 months, culminating on the Easter vigil. Made her happy and made it possible for me to legally join The AOH.
They said next pope will be from Africa. Seems they are doing WORK there. If it's an American I suspect Cardinal Dolan. Will be looking at Fan dual for the odds to pop up. LOL
30 some-odd years ago, stationed in Sicily, I went with a Navy buddy to Rome. We were in St. Peter's Square. By chance it was a Sunday. Suddenly the crowd starts shifting to one side of the square and there's some loud disembodied voice speaking. If it were a comedy, I could have looked heavenward and said, "God? Is that you, Father? What wouldst thou have me do?" It was the Pope addressing his followers from his apartment rooms high up. Ah, yes, there he is, that dude in the white at the window talking into a microphone. He was probably wearing a cheater, standing there in his hidden-from-view boxer shorts, who knows? Later that day I was at the Coliseum. My friend was slightly ahead of me, gaping at some ruins across from the Coliseum, when the three Gypsy women ("and you see your Gypsy / you see your Gypsy") swooped in on me, distracted me with hands in my face ("give, give, give!") and apparently another hand in my pocket, stole $150 that I'd moved there from my wallet (in case of the Gypsies I'd heard about, you see, they wouldn't get my wallet, dumbass me), and ran off before I could even say, "WTF?" or to my friend, "Uh, yeah, did you enjoy those ruins, bud? They swarmed me like killer bees." I wouldn't have even known at the moment I'd been robbed if an American coin (a quarter) hadn't fallen from my pocket and gone, and I quote, "CLINK!", on the cobblestones. "Hunh," thought I, "what is a quarter doing on the ground in Rome at my feet---oh, f***." So, like the boy who falls off a horse and never saddles up again, I did not become Catholic after my proximity to the Holy Father. The three Gypsies were a more formidable presence. Those b**ches. Catholic churches, though? Beautiful.
This should have been in Hangout, not down here, in my opinion. That would have eliminated the political stuff. While I'm not the least bit Catholic (or anything else, except a human being), he deserves kudos for attempting to reform the Church. Rest in peace, Pope Francis.
I have spent months at a time in Northern Ireland and Ireland. They have valid reason to have issues with the Protestants in Northern Ireland and Ireland. The parts of town are segregated to this day - there is a serious wealth difference and you can tell by how someone talks and carries themselves if they are Protestant or Catholic. I remember being there for only a few weeks and immediately knowing what someone was. At this point it isn't really even religion - it is cultural. I know quite a few Irish that are agnostic or atheist, and they still have issues with the Protestants that are in Northern Ireland and Ireland. The Protestants look down on the Catholics and the Catholics view the Protestants as oppressive. We were in the Catholic part of town in Northern Ireland at like 6 am when marchers were coming down the road, playing loud drums and screaming - celebrating the Protestant victory years ago.... the Irish Catholic were coming out of their houses throwing stuff at them and threatening violence.
I agree with that. Still, there was no reason to make any posts about any political figure in an RIP thread. People don't have any human decency. Exactly that. We'll said
A Pope who most resembled what I think of as Jesus' values in our lifetimes. Hopefully he packed the Vatican with enough "wokes" to not get some fascist American cardinal voted in.
