# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/41 "2010-10-19T14:30:27Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I really can’t imagine Lutherans kicking anybody’s ass. Does Garrison Keillor have a violent angry side I don’t know about? The young “Gary” Keillor was raised in a very fundamentalist church, the Plymouth Brethren. But he left that, along with his original first name, long, long ago. OTOH, I think the guy is ready to bash in the head of the next Dane that does something stupid in front of him. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/42 "2010-10-19T14:42:16Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oh, well, that was an easy enough Google. [Homer vs Lisa and the 8th Commandment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_vs._Lisa_and_the_8th_Commandment). > > That would be the 8th Commandment for Catholics and Lutherans. Of course, that should read, “that would be the 7th Commandment for Catholics and Lutherans.” (Thou shalt not steal.) ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/43 "2010-10-19T22:24:27Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > > [@TBG](#): > > > > “The Catholic Church – we’ve made a few changes.” > > Another side note: a lot of Catholics HATED that joke and complained to Fox. In later airings the line was changed to “The Church… we’ve made a few _changes_.” It means the same thing but apparently it was less offensive if they didn’t say it was the RCC. I forget if the original line was restored for the season 10 DVD set. They only changed it on later airings on Fox itself. “Catholic” was restored both in syndication and on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/44 "2010-10-19T22:33:18Z")
The Simpsons children weren’t even baptised - I recall an episode where the Flanders plan to baptise them to redress Marge and Homer’s neglect. If the Simpsons were Catholic, the children would almost certainly have been baptised as infants. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/45 "2010-10-19T23:40:54Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > The Simpsons children weren’t even baptised - I recall an episode where the Flanders plan to baptise them to redress Marge and Homer’s neglect. If the Simpsons were Catholic, the children would almost certainly have been baptised as infants. What I didn’t understand about that episode was the apparently common belief (expressed independently by both Ned and Homer) that if Ned baptizes the Simpson kids, he’s legally adopted them. It has kind of a creepy Edgardo Mortara feel to it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/46 "2010-10-20T02:19:37Z")
If that were true, it would mean that a heck of a lot of kids would be adopted by priests. While anyone _can_ baptize, in practice it’s rarely done by layfolks. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/47 "2010-10-22T07:02:21Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > “Ned… have you thought about one of the other major religions? They’re all pretty much the same.” > > -Rev Lovejoy [Homer] \*\*\*“Hey, Flanders! I got us some kick-ass seats down front!” * * * [/Homer] How many times have I bitten my tongue instead of yelling that as I sit down in church? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/48 "2010-10-22T07:59:32Z")
I don’t think they’re Catholic, but I think they’re quite catholic. Maybe that’s what the priest was on about 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580/49 "2010-10-22T14:56:17Z")
The Simpsons are [Presbylutheran](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_The_Simpsons#The_Western_Branch_of_American_Reform_Presbylutheranism) as established in at least one episode. Not that continuity is one of the show’s strong suits. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-news-from-the-vatican-the-simpsons-are-catholic-what/557580.md?page=2)