# Surprising news from the Vatican: The Simpsons are Catholic. What? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580 "2010-10-18T18:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/1 "2010-10-18T18:43:45Z")
[Link.](http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/18/doh-vatican-declares-bart-and-homer-simpson-catholic/) Somehow, I never noticed. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/2 "2010-10-18T18:47:19Z")
Rev. Lovejoy is married. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/3 "2010-10-18T18:47:42Z")
I seem to remember an episode where Bart asked if they could convert to Catholicism so they could have some “Communion wafers and booze” during church. And Marge said no because “three kids are enough!” ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/4 "2010-10-18T19:07:41Z")
The Simpsons are Presbyluthiscopalians. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/5 "2010-10-18T19:12:32Z")
Interestingly, if anyone cares enough to read the article, it says precisely the opposite of its headline: > [@](#): > > The article riffs on the 2005 episode “The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star,” in which Homer and Bart flirt with the idea of converting to Catholicism (and Homer makes an outrageous confession). > > Homer decides against it with “a cathartic D’oh!,” Possati writes. But the Rev. Francesco Occhetta praises the episode - and the series –anyway, Possati writes. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/6 "2010-10-18T19:16:54Z")
It’s true that probably no American TV show has ever dealt with the subject of religion as frequently and as in-depth as the _Simpsons_ does. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/7 "2010-10-18T19:21:59Z")
You might be able to make a case that the Simpsons are small-c catholic. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/8 "2010-10-18T19:27:03Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > You might be able to make a _ **case** _ that the Simpsons are small-c catholic. I saw what you did, there. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/9 "2010-10-18T19:35:06Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s true that probably no American TV show has ever dealt with the subject of religion as frequently and as in-depth as the _Simpsons_ does. I heard a person on NPR who had studied this, and that was his theory too. He also said the religious group that complains most about its treatment on the Simpsons is the Roman Catholic Church, whereas the group that is actually most often insulted is the Unitarians. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/10 "2010-10-18T19:42:05Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Interestingly, if anyone cares enough to read the article, it says precisely the opposite of its headline: The blog article cuts the quote short, going with: > [@](#): > > “Few know it, and he does all he can to hide it. But it is true,” Luca Possati writes in Sunday’s Osservatore Romano. Most other news sites reporting the story include this quote: > [@](#): > > “Few people know it, and he does everything he can to hide it, but it is true: Homer J Simpson is a Catholic”. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/11 "2010-10-18T20:13:22Z")
By the by, it looks like the source article has been pulled from the Vatican’s website, but plugging site:www.vatican.va “Homer e Bart sono cattolici” into Google brings up proof that it was there. “Homer e Bart sono cattolici” being the headline used by the Vatican newspaper and probably not needing much in the way of translation. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/12 "2010-10-18T20:21:44Z")
> [@Kal](#): > > “Homer e Bart sono cattolici” being the headline used by the Vatican newspaper and probably not needing much in the way of translation. “Homer and Bart so not Catholic”? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/13 "2010-10-18T20:26:24Z")
It’s always been true that The Simpsons has been one of the most religion-friendly shows in prime time TV. They make fun of hypocrisy and various foibles of evangelical culture, but they have always been very faith-friendly. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/14 "2010-10-18T20:47:21Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I seem to remember an episode where Bart asked if they could convert to Catholicism so they could have some “Communion wafers and booze” during church. And Marge said no because “three kids are enough!” Marge once asks Rev. Lovejoy about Last Rites and he rolls his eyes saying “That’s _Catholics_, Marge. You might as well ask me to do a voodoo ritual.” Yes, I know we’ve already determined the article is poorly written. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/15 "2010-10-18T20:47:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s true that probably no American TV show has ever dealt with the subject of religion as frequently and as in-depth as the _Simpsons_ does. that show has done deep humor in regard to philosophy, culture, history and science. is there anything that show can’t do? just like donuts. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/16 "2010-10-18T20:49:39Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Marge once asks Rev. Lovejoy about Last Rites and he rolls his eyes saying “That’s _Catholics_, Marge. You might as well ask me to do a voodoo ritual.” > Yes, I know we’ve already determined the article is poorly written. if he could do hindu why couldn’t he do voodoo? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/17 "2010-10-18T22:16:21Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > if he could do hindu why couldn’t he do voodoo? Who do voodoo? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/18 "2010-10-18T22:20:49Z")
That voodoo that you do so well. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/19 "2010-10-18T22:25:18Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Rev. Lovejoy is married. That doesn’t prove anything—the Catholic Church permits priests to be married. In the Latin Rite, they have to get married before they are ordained. I think that in the Eastern Rites they are permitted to marry afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/20 "2010-10-18T23:57:51Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > That doesn’t prove anything—the Catholic Church permits priests to be married. In the Latin Rite, they have to get married before they are ordained. I think that in the Eastern Rites they are permitted to marry afterwards. No. In the Eastern Rite churchs married men be priests, but only if they marry before being ordained, priests cannot marry afterward. Bishops must be unmarried. Orthodox churchs follow the same rule. In the Latin Rite married men aren’t allowed to be ordained at all, unless the Pope grants a special dispansation. Usually that only happed when an Episcopalian/Anglican priest converts to Roman Catholicism. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580.md?page=2)