Is the Pope Dope?

The answer is Nope. Pope Benedict XVI is visiting the U. S. this week and my Catholic household has reacted by . . . not saying, doing, or seemingly thinking anything about it. RSI the atheist brought up the Pope's visit to Mrs. RSI but she was profoundly uninterested. Miss Teen RSI didn't know the Pope was coming at all because it wasn't on Jon Stewart. Ten year old Miss Tween RSI was moved to say "Yeah its all right" when queried.

According to Mrs. RSI, there was an item in last month's church bulletin about the Pope, but the local parish isn't exactly motivated by his visit either.

The problem is this. Mrs. RSI is a liberal Catholic who wants to remain Catholic despite her disgust with the Catholic Church over their refusal to let women serve as priests, their position on gay rights, and their general conservatism. If Mrs. RSI is forced to think about the highly conservative Pope, she'd most likely start wondering if she should attend another church.

Given that there's no hope for the pope, it's probably good for the Catholic Church that people like Mrs. RSI aren't paying attention. Otherwise, a lot of liberal Catholics would just leave the church.