Facepalm

Funnily we have the exact same thing in german, being ”päpstlicher als der Papst" (more papal than the pope)

No need for that. Just become more magical than the pope.

We also have that saying in french. At least in Canada

I say that to my Catholic mom who is not judgemental, but too ascetic. She thinks any feelings of pleasure could lead to sin; shies away from any topic of sex and even mere mention of contraceptives; and she has antiquated abstentionist view that alcohol leads to people doing bad stuff, even though from my own personal experience, people could get drunk and still be polite, but an already insecure or asshole person who is drunk will become an even bigger asshole (because alcohol removes inhibition not morality). I say to my mom that she would be the confirmed first female pope if she had not been married.

They say he's an apostate, and nothing you say will change their mind. What I recommend is not engaging in these discussions with close-minded people. No good will come of it.

I wonder if there's a term for people who protest the opinions of the pope?

As long as you contain it in a tube, you can create a warp bubble, though.

catholistrophic even.

Cognitive dissonance. I feel like, at a certain age, most religious people are just unable to change their minds. It is incredible that the leader of their own religion is trying to teach them something, and they are deluded into thinking their "interpretation" (which isn't theirs at all, but was force fed to them) is the correct one.

It wasn't that long ago that the whole damn religious ceremony was performed in Latin. That way, no normal person had a chance of understanding what was going on. And they were entirely dependent on the priests and the pope's word. Back then, doubting the pope had consequences. Not that those were better times. It is just crazy to see how much this religion has changed.

The Pope is infallible when making a definitive statement on morals or faith.

That's the doctrine.

The literal definition of "not real Catholics"

I assume there's always a group of them for all popes or am I incorrect? Mean not necessarily the same people but someone must not like whichever one is current enough to form a group in the past.

Online these days it's like fishing in a barrel to find someone with your weird ideas so no digging needed there.

Leader? The pope is not just a leader. He is the divine representator of (for) god on this earth. He is the appointed successor to saint Peter, the guy chosen by Jesus himself as be the "frontman" (what Dave Grohl is to the foo fighters for you heretics ;) ) of the apostles and the bearer of the keys of heaven.

Or, at least, that's according to true catholics.

Anyway, the pope is not just a leader.

Ooh, spicy

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipope_John_XXIII

We had a couple already, but I suppose we can go for elevenses.

To be as obvious as criticising the pope for not being a true catholic the "no true scotsman" would have to be said to William Wallace himself.

One of the very few times I had fun in church was because of that story.

I gave up on christianity at 12, but didn't have any kind of objection to it for others, and didn't mind going to church with friends. It's the south, and pretty much every church had a choir and singing, so it was pleasant enough.

But I went to church with a friend in jr high, a guy that still lives down the road now. But they went to one of those crazy churches with the long names that make no sense. Not the kind of crazy where they drink poison and handle snakes, just the kind of crazy where they jump around and scream a lot.

Anyway, I'm down to try it. We roll in and my friend drags me to the front pew. I was sins dubious, but he was smiling and saying the preacher wae awesome and I didn't want to miss anything.

He was not wrong lol.

This preacher was indeed impressive. One of those kind of preachers you get where they praise GAAWD, hallelujah and amen! every five minutes or so, just completely batshit but entertaining.

Guy starts talking about the story those images are based on.

He's red faced and just stalking back and forth across the front of the church like a metal guitarist playing to the back rows.

Dude rips off his tie and starts making knots in it.

He then races along the front row beating the ever living hell out of everyone except me. He goes back and forth, talking about how Jesus threw the money lenders out, and expounding on washing our souls free of greed, all while beating the ever loving fuck out of the front row, only skipping me. This was about five minutes worth.

The dude looked unhinged. Sweating, his shirt opened and starting to pull free of his pants a little, hair sticking out everywhere. And he's doing it while shouting it all loud enough to echo off the walls. But he never touched me with the tie. Got my friend on my left, and the lady on my right, but not me. Dude knew that I was not a member of the church, and made sure to miss me, no matter how crazy he looked.

That shit was awesome. Like, it cemented my certainty that I would never be christian, and that you couldn't trust preachers (because his whole act of being ina religious frenzy was an act, if he had been the "hand of the lord" he was acting, he wouldn't have avoided me). But it was freaking amazing on an entertainment level.

Plus, there was singing and some folks spoke "in tongues" which made it even better.

I was invited back several times, but I knew it would never be that fun again. How can you top that kind of performance?

That's more of a Russia thing.