It's pope-in' time

I don't really like talking about religion nowadays since I've become an atheist for all intents and purposes, just not of the kind who enjoys telling everyone else about it. I have no problem with other people finding meaning, community and comfort in religion either. It's just not for me.

I was however raised in the Roman-catholic church and never formally left it, so every now and then something related to that will still make my ears perk up. Such as the pope dying and a new one being elected. Oh the memes I saw on the subject... amazing (and yet never disrespectful, interestingly enough).

I'm currently visiting my mother in Austria and she was switching TV channels yesterday just as the white smoke appeared, so we stayed on that channel to watch. I honestly thought it was hilarious how much the whole hubbub resembled a giant football event. They showed some people chanting "habemus papam" to the same tune to which they'd diss their football opponents on other days.

As there was about an hour between the white smoke appearing and the actual new pope making his appearance, that time was amusingly filled with alternating between studio reporters trying to provide interesting pope facts and reporters on the scene interviewing random people about "what kind of pope they'd like". Most answers were pretty much what you'd expect: a man of the people, someone who'll get people interested in going to church again etc. One guy interviewed was a priest though and said something about how the most important thing to him was that the new pope would pay reverence to our holy mother the virgin Mary and I think my own mother and I made a face simultaneously. Like, dude.

When the announcement came that the new pope was American, I think it raised some eyebrows. I'd kind of been hoping for someone from the Philippines or somewhere in Africa for a change of pace, and no offense to any American readers, but at this point in time, saying "he/she/it is American" about someone or something does not exactly inspire confidence. But then he did say in his first speech that god loves all of us and that "evil will not prevail", which I took as assurance that he's not a fan of Trump (I'm only partially joking). Additional reassurance came later when I saw certain right-wing personalities shriek about the announcement on social media like vampires that had been doused with holy water. I guess Leo XIV is gonna be alright as far as popes go.

Now back to letting the pope do pope-y things and not caring a whole lot about it.

Comments

  1. Pallais10 May 2025 at 10:31

    I saw a lot of comments about him being from Chicago and all the jokes that came out of that. What I found interesting is that he's a naturalized citizen of Peru, so in a good way he's truly a North *and* South American pope. Time will tell how good a pope he'll be, but I hope for the sake of Roman Catholics he's a good one for them.

    (I'm a-religious and am close enough to being an atheist that for all practical effects I might as well be one. That said, I do recognize the good things religion and religious people have done, while deploring those that use religion as an excuse for their terrible beliefs and actions.)

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