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Christianity Is Catholic: Difference between revisions
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|'''[[Roger Ebert]]''' on ''[[Constantine]]''}}
Historically, America has been predominantly Protestant. Most of the original thirteen colonies were composed of Protestant groups, but you'd never know this from any of the media we{{who}} cover.
It's hard to tell why; maybe it's because the costumes of Roman Catholic clerics are so [[Awesome Anachronistic Apparel|quaint]] and [[Gorgeous Period Dress|distinctive]], perhaps it's the fascination of [[Rule of Symbolism|the mystery and ritual]], perhaps it's that our [[A Man Is Not a Virgin|sex-obsessed society]] is bewildered by the thought of priests, monks, and nuns taking a [[Celibate Hero|vow of celibacy]], or that [[Creepy Cathedral|ornate Catholic churches make the best sets]], or the usefulness of the [[Confessional|sacrament of confession]] as a narrative device. Or maybe it's just downright absurd to associate Southern Baptists with [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] and Gothic aesthetics. Another possibility is that Catholicism is simply a more visible form of Christianity in the bicoastal urban milieu in which most writers work. Not to mention that a considerable number of writers are themselves Catholic (or were [[Raised Catholic|raised that way]]), and may just find it easier to [[Write What You Know|write what they know]].
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==▼
▲== Anime ==
* ''[[Kaitou Saint Tail]]'' is a Catholic schoolgirl, her base of operations is a Catholic church, her informant is an "[[Nuns Are Mikos|apprentice nun]]", and all the victims that she helps are also Catholic. Given that they're in a predominantly ''Shinto'' country, it's odd that no one seems to notice.
** Her informant is also blatantly breaking the rules of confidentiality regarding the confessional, which is something real clergy could get a ''lot'' of trouble for.
*** And nuns have no access to confessional secrets! Only male priests do and they can't even share them amongst themselves.
* In ''[[Sailor Moon]],'' Hino Rei, a Shinto miko, attends an all-girls Catholic school. Named T*A, an [[Expy]] of the former
** T*A possibly stands for Thomas Aquainus.
* ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' is another [[Church Militant]] series set in the United States, which...sorta fits under this trope. [[Anime Catholicism|It's complicated]].
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** Rosette is also stated to be a nun in the manga, while in the anime she's just got a nun-ish uniform. It's complicated.
* In ''[[Trinity Blood]]'', Catholicism is pretty much the only religion, period. Although given that it's set 1000 years [[After the End]] and Europe (which is largely Catholic in [[Real Life]]) was the only bit of the world that wasn't nuked into oblivion, this might be somewhat justified. It is also probably worth noting that the church in ''[[Trinity Blood]]'' is a political and military organization as much as a religious one.
* ''[[Maria
* ''[[Seikon no Qwaser]]'' starts off as an aversion by having latched onto Russian Orthodox imagery but the Vatican shows up as well as part of the background plotting.
* Thoroughly averted in ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]''. The Roman Catholics are the most powerful Christian organization, but there are numerous other powerful ones such as the British Puritans (Index is a Puritan nun), the Russian Orthodox and even smaller groups like the Amakusa Catholics (Japanese Christian sect) who are not recognized by the Roman Catholics. And then they take that, duct tape on some [[Rule of Cool]], magic and crazed zealots, and run with it.
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** Oddly enough, the movie postulates that Catholic dogma can undo all of creation but no mention is made of conflicting dogmatic principles found in hundreds of other denominations, some of which, predate Catholicism.
* ''[[Brideshead Revisited]]'' (2008 version) is a strange subversion of this trope. The director stated in several interviews that he had a problem with all organized religion, but further remarks indicated that what he meant by that was actually the more evangelical strains of Christianity. In the film, the main family portrayed is very Catholic—as [[Evelyn Waugh]], author of the novel the movie was loosely based upon, made them—but actions and beliefs as portrayed in the movie (not the novel) are not Catholic—they're evangelical Christian. Given the themes of the book, it's safe to say that this is a good example of [[Completely Missing the Point]].
* Averted in ''[[Soul Surfer]]''. Christianity is clearly Evangelical and in fact some of the hymns are the same as this
* ''[[Stigmata]]'' is about a priest investigating a woman who has manifested the title wounds and speaks in tongues.
** Made very funny, as (former altar boy) Roger Ebert points out, because the filmmakers think that the woman's having been entered by the Holy Ghost is the same thing as demonic possession.
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** One of the subplots in King's ''[[Needful Things]]'' involves a conflict between Catholics and Baptists in Castle Rock, Maine that escalates into a murderous riot.
** However, other religious characters in his work (Margaret White from ''[[Carrie]]'', Mother Abagail from ''[[The Stand]]'', Vera Smith from ''[[The Dead Zone]]'', David Carver from ''[[Desperation]]'', Paul Edgecombe from ''[[The Green Mile]]'') are Protestant.
* Averted in the ''[[Belisarius Series]]''. Romans are Eastern Orthodox and Axumites are Coptics. Obviously. However this is before the schism between Constantinople and Rome reached its climax. There are also Monophysites which is an esoteric interpretation of Trinitarian speculation of interest only to those who are insiders in the Church already or philosophy geeks who just like that sort of thing. What is more important plotwise is the political tensions that arise from theological differences as the author has little interest in theology for its own sake and sometimes seems to regard it with distaste.
* Averted in the ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' series. The Grayson state church is very much Protestant.
** They go far enough from mainstream theology over a thousand years they are a kind of [[Recycled in Space|Space Mormons]].
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* ''[[Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn]]'': Aeodonism is more or less, the copy of the Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times.
* [[C. S. Lewis]] recounted that allegories of Christianity, regardless of denomination, tend to be viewed as Catholic. This was, he thought, because Catholicism gives central concepts embodied form, while the Protestants interpreted them more etherally. All, for instance, would agree that Christians were to be set apart from the world, which could allegorically be presented by a wall but is also expressed in the enclosures of monks and nuns.
* ''[[Technic History|A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows]]'' has what seems to be an evolution of Eastern Orthodoxy, which is fitting as it centers on a planet that is Serbian in culture (its politics are more British with a limited aristocracy headed by a semi-democratic monarch).
== Live-Action TV ==
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** An exception is Stella of ''[[CSI: NY]]'', who is apparently Orthodox—she makes the Sign of the Cross top, down, right, left (Catholic is top, down, left, right).
*** However, this was depicted as happening in a Catholic church.
*
* Likewise, Booth, the token Christian on ''[[Bones]]'', is Catholic, and holds a deep-seated dread of nuns. Somewhat justified in that the actor, David Boreanaz, actually is Catholic, and was raised Catholic and went to Catholic schools. Also justified in [[Nuns Are Spooky]].
** Booth is also an Irish name.
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* ''[[Homicide: Life on the Street]]'' accurately represents Baltimore's high Catholic population: Lt Giardello, Det Crosetti, Det Pembleton, Det Felton, Det Gharty, and Bessie-Lou all are Catholics. However, Det Lewis is a Baptist and Det Bayliss later converts to Zen Buddhism. Det Munch is Jewish, but says the only thing on which he and Judaism agree is not working on Saturdays.
* On the HBO prison drama ''[[Oz]]'' Father Ray Mukada, a prison chaplain, is a Catholic priest, and Sister Peter Marie, the prison psychologist, is a nun. The series features a significant number of other Catholics, as many characters are Irish, Italian or Latino. Even so, the series does feature characters of other religions, including several prominent Muslims, a rarity in American media. This trope was also subverted somewhat in Season Four with the introduction of the character Jeremiah Cloutier, an Evangelical Protestant minister.
* Nurse
* Elaine on ''[[Seinfeld]]'' learns that boyfriend Puddy is religious, and believes that she's going to Hell. While the religious stations preset on his car radio sound born-again Protestant, the couple wind up being counseled by his priest.
* On the other hand, in the series ''[[Blood Ties]]'' the fact that the vampire is a good Catholic comes from his being greatly benefited by Catholicism. It was his dad, Henry VIII, who first split the Church, looking for a divorce and wanting to free England from Rome,and Henry Jr., our vampire, wanted to be king, obviously, thus he favored the Catholic Church. Never mind that most of England was Protestant by then, and the Catholic Queen Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII, was nicknamed Bloody Mary because of her desire to set England back to being Catholic. She tried to do this by killing off Protestants.
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== Professional Wrestling ==
* The two times that a church has appeared on [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] programming (when Steve Austin and Booker T had a brawl in one, and when Vince and Shane McMahon used one as a backdrop to mock Shawn Michaels' faith), it was a Catholic church, complete with confession booth, font of holy water, etc. Note that the real-life Michaels, and thus presumably the character Michaels, is a Born-Again Evangelical, not a Catholic (although he was baptized Catholic as a baby). As well, the short-lived Reverend D'Von character, while talking like a Southern Baptist, dressed like a Catholic priest, and his entrance video had a very gothic stained-glass motif.
** This might be because the McMahons are of Irish descent.
** Mike Shaw's '''Friar Ferguson''', "The Mad Monk", lasted only a handful of matches before the Catholic church and the New York media raised enough pressure to have him removed.
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== Video Games ==
* The [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]] ''[[Ragnarok Online]]'' has a priest healer class with Catholic-themed skill names ([[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|in Latin, no less!]]) such as "Signum Crucis" (Sign of the Cross), "Impositio Manus" (Laying-on of hands), "Angelus" (a Catholic prayer) and "Magnus Exorcismus" (Great Exorcism). However the Catholicity ends with the [[Stripperiffic|questionably dressed]] ''female'' priest characters.
** Although female Acolytes, the class preceding Priest, are one of the most conservatively dressed classes in any MMORPG ever. There may be some symbolism going on here, like the progression into womanhood (ala [[Nuns Are Mikos]] and the Miko's association with purity/virginity)
** And the male Priest's attire is a bit questionable and all, you know, at least for the profession.
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**** Attend each other's Masses, yes, but not necessarily receive communion. An Orthodox church is not supposed to offer communion to a non-Orthodox Christian nor is an Orthodox believer supposed to receive it from a non-Orthodox minister. (Curiously, traditional Catholicism *does* allow the offering of communion to the Orthodox, though not to Protestants.)
***** Not curious at all. It's a doctrinal distinction. Catholics and Orthodox both believe in transsubstantiation and the Real Presence, Protestants don't.
* The [[American Courts|United States Supreme Court]] has,{{when}} for the first time in its history, no Protestant judges.{{verify}} In fact, it has six Catholics and three [[You Have to Have Jews|Jews]]{{verify}} (for context, the Court is now{{when}} over 33 percent Jewish, while the nation they represent is ''less than'' 3 percent Jewish!).{{verify}} Oddly enough, the nation has had only one Catholic President out of 43.{{when}} Kennedy's religion was a matter of controversy at the time, as Americans have been traditionally wary of Catholicism's recognition of a European figure as a seat of authority (the Pope).
* Christianity Is Catholic can be justified in works involving demons, as Catholics are one of very few Christian sects that still trains exorcists.
* Interestingly enough, it happens within Catholicism ''itself,'' especially considering the fact that Catholics are pretty diverse in practices, "non-essential" beliefs and alignments. Catholics in America, for example, are distinct from Italian or Peruvian ones.
** And that's not counting the various factions, such as the Conservatives, Liberals, Traditionalists, Sedevacantists, etc.
** Also, there are the "Eastern Catholic" churches. Yes, there is such a thing. Back in the 1500s when the Mass and other customs were standardized to the standards of the Diocese of Rome - hence the ''Roman'' Catholic - there were large portions of the world where the Catholic churches were not in direct contact with Rome for geopolitical reasons (mostly, Muslim countries and India) and did not adopt the new standards, but maintained their older regional ones. Syriac, Chaldean, Maronite, etcetera... there are about sixteen different varieties, which add up to about six percent of all Catholics. Most of them can also be found in the various English-speaking countries today, due to immigration.
* Interestingly, in some South-Asian countries, you can be registered as being either Christian ''or'' Catholic.
** Although it's technically incorrect, a lot of non-Catholic Christians use "Christian" that way even in the United States. Some even claim that it is ''correct'', because "Catholics ''aren't'' Christian" (usually based on the assumption that the use of the crucifix, instead of the bare cross, means Catholics don't believe in the Resurrection).
* In Medieval Europe, the Roman Catholic Church (and Eastern Orthodox) was the only Christian Church, until the Reformation (which took place during Renaissance) when Protestantism evolved.
** There were also Nestorians, Coptics, Irish, and so on. Also the Roman Catholic Church was, like everything Medieval, far more decentralized then the official rules stated, and had lots of weird cul-de-sacs and [[Jurisdiction Friction|jurisdictional complications.]] Probably it would have been as easy to find a de facto sovereign bishop that paid nominal allegiance to the pope as a de facto sovereign prince that paid nominal allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor.
** Technically, "Roman" wasn't used until the 1500s.
* All the tropers that were raised Catholic in their childhood probably felt that way. Until they learned about the existence of other Christian denominations.
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