The Pope gets shady on tour
Also, Switchfoot frontman (kind of?) says gay rights
Jon Foreman said gay rights (kind of?)
Favourite of this newsletter Semler, posted on TikTok that they planned to yell “gay rights” at a Switchfoot show to see what would happen. After confirming that the parking attendant supports gay rights, all that remained was to see what frontman Jon Foreman thought.
He came through. He kept his support pretty general (unlike Dan Haseltine of Jars of Clay), but there you have it.
I told you all cats are Muslims
A reminder that I’m always looking for religious memes and shitposts! If you see them please send them to me, especially if they are not Christian.
Pope on tour
The Pope has just completed a pastoral visit to Hungary and Slovakia, and everyone knows that when the Pope travels, his off-the-cuff remarks during mid-air press conferences cause trouble.
First, he said pro-abortion politicians (such as President Biden) shouldn’t be denied communion, which is pretty significant news considering the political situation in the US with certain bishops. The Pillar explains more:
Then he immediately told a story about how one time he accidentally gave the sacrament to an old Jewish woman.
Hungary is becoming more and more anti-gay, so in the same press conference a journalist asked the Pope about same-sex marriage. He repeated his position that sacramental same-sex marriage is impossible, but he is in favour of civil same-sex unions.
Then he threw shade at anti-vaccination Cardinal Burke saying, “Even in the College of Cardinals, there are some anti-vaxers, and one of them, poor man, is in hospital with the virus. But life is ironic."
(Here’s the official transcription of this presser)
Finally, a few days ago it surfaced that while in Slovakia, a Jesuit asked Pope Francis “How are you?” He responsed, “I am alive, although some people wanted me dead.”
A few other things: Here’s a video of members of the Vatican press corps awkwardly dancing while waiting for the Pope.
Also, there’s this video of a Hungarian priest waving and blowing a kiss to the camera. He is apparently a TikTok priest with a significant following.
Why does this image exist
I don’t know what is going on here, but this gives me strong Dungeons and Dragons vibes.
I reckon this is a multiclassed cleric/bard defending a ranger with the help of his canine animal companion.
Looking for a City
This has nothing to do with anything in particular, but please enjoy this video of Vestal Goodman and Johnny Cook of Southern gospel group The Happy Goodmans competing to see who can sing the highest.
The hair. The jackets. The fixed smiles. The pageantry. The handkerchif! The fact I was introduced to this video by my friend Petey who is a drag queen called Dizzy Bility. It’s the epitome of religious camp.
Shark Jesus
Jesus did say you’ll never know the day or the hour, but I didn’t realise I also wouldn’t know the species.
Reader feedback
Reader Luke messaged me on Instagram to disagree with my Cars Pope take. He says a car could absolutely be crucified by opening the doors. He even drew a diagram to illustrate his point.
My boyfriend (also in the chat) pushed back, saying this would only work with a DeLorian because of the way car doors open, but Luke insists even regular car doors and thick enough to accomodate very long nails. So I guess I stand corrected?
Also, Ivan emailed me to say Daniel Mitsui, the guy who did the samurai Michael the Archangel, “does a lot of weird and great art!!” I note he is open for commissions.
Joseph’s brothers really should have chilled out
Extra bits
- Check out these Russian Lord of the Rings illustrations that look like religious icons
- “Not sure I’m on board with the two millennia long theocracy of Gun Jesus”
- King James II
- I was thinkin’ the other day, what if Thanos got saved