Claudia,

Um, yeah, All those miracles on The Brady Bunch.

Hmm. The linguist in me still has problems with the term in describing the character. Even the armchair Catholic theologian!

Don't be so hard on yourself! There are so many - so very many - "only the most knowledgeable in Church history and tradition" references that make the series a bit more humorous or a lot more curious, that you can be forgiven (Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti) all but the…

No, not alt-Catholic; that sounds like too much homage to Traditionalists and while he's certainly somewhat retro in dress and address, I think that he would agree with everything in the CCC and the 1983 CIC. But it's not the fiddleback or Latin liturgies that he's re-instituting Church-wide.

Um, as an Amazon Prime member, I watched Fortitude last December over a weekend. IMDb shows a second season coming this January. I'm not certain of that… maybe.

But our homes were covered in Papal images! Pius XIII-Paul VI! JPII, I think, began the pop-pop-populist papacy, Benedict XVI was (as expected) far more subdued and Francis? I think that Pius XIII might have been molded as the antithesis of Francis.

Okay - now I must look for your comments!

Not much, not often, not really. If you're in the U.S., I assume that you'll be watching tonight and tomorrow night? In one of those episodes, Pius says "I'm a contradiction." I finished that with an ancient (because, well, I am ancient) Kris Kristofferson lyric, "partly truth and partly fiction." When is Pius…

Did you see him in "Genius"? Sometimes, years ago when he would speak in his native accent, I would think him effete. In Genius and TYP he seems to have come of age and I think that his best years as an actor are to come.

You're right. Absolutely. To the critics who have only seen 5 episodes… rewrite your critiques after seeing the full series.

Well, hello! It's nice to know that my experiences are not unique - makes me feel "more human1'

Ah, Christ… I missed the "five episodes of The Young Pope screened for critics."

Good God! RC and Southern Baptist! That must have been terribly confusing. Were your parents married in the Church with the usual Bishop's dispensation for a mixed marriage? or were you raised areligious/secular?

Mmm. Disowning? Yeah, I suppose that's right - I have disowned any belief in Roman Catholic mythology yet I cannot disown the culture anymore than I could change the color of my skin. It would have been foolish of me to place my books, crucifixes, rosaries, statuettes, etc., atop a burning pyre in an attempt to kill…

Now THAT made me giggle! Certainly ONE of the goddamned popes! It's usually difficult to prove paternity but it was John XII, I think (?), who had an unknown maternity?

It can be fascinating. I'm an atheist but was born as, baptized as, confirmed as, confessed as, took communion as, was married as a Roman Catholic. I will never disown my culture - I cannot.

Ah, lady. He tells us what he is up front - a contradiction. For me it's the cinematic hagiography of a 21st century saint. My favorite saints were always the imperfect saints; the saints who struggled. Augustine and Francis. There's never a CLEAR answer as to exactly how Lenny became Pius: yeah, excuses of…

I only wish that I understood you differently: just an unsubtle rebuke insinuating that the Church is in the neo-Dark Ages? I agree. Lenny's nightmare… oh, crap… never mind. It's a terrific series, set in the 'present day' with a YOUNG pope (hence the name of the series).

That's schism talk. (properly pronounced SIZ-im, not bloody SKIZ-im!).