Brendan O'Connor: When it comes to Catholicism and camogie, now everyone's an expert

Irish Independent

11-05-2025

Today at 21:30
You feel it will come as a shock to some people when the euphoria wears off and they realise the Pope is not only a Catholic, but also, in fact, a priest. Initially, the main gist people got was that he was an American. An American Catholic, yes. But they're not really proper Catholics, are they, Ted?
Old World Catholics have never really taken Johnny-Come-Lately American Catholics seriously. There's a feeling they don't really get it. They don't fully understand that it's about misery and suffering and shame and giving stuff up for Lent. They' re a bit too upbeat for European tastes.
And don't even get us started on American priests. 'A bit too worldly,' would be the traditional attitude here towards them. A bit too normal to be real priests.
Our own priests used to even get infected with it when they went there. They'd come back on 'holidays', as if they were ordinary people. And they seemed to enjoy going out to dinner a little bit too much, a bit too comfortable in the old restaurants, these lads, after a few years in America.
Indeed, in general they often seemed to have too much of what you might call a social life. They seemed to have friends, some of whom might even be nuns, and some who weren't even in the clergy at all.
We're also suspicious that Pope Leo looks too much like a normal person. But maybe that'll wear off as he leans in to being more papal. The problem could be that he's too young: 69! He'd barely have moved out of his parents' house if he lived in Ireland.
Sixty-nine is young for a Pope but old for a broadcaster. There was obviously a brief flurry of speculation when Joe Duffy announced his retirement and we then suddenly found out we had a Pope. Joe the Confessor isn't technically a priest obviously, but maybe the conclave had decided on a radical move?
Then more speculation began. Would the next presenter of Liveline continue in Joe's spirit of liberalism or would the more conservative wing of RTÉ try to get their candidate in? Joe had of course been anointed by Pope Gay, who was conservative enough by modern standards but who was seen as a liberalising force at the time.
Between all that and skorts, it was a relief for people to be able to focus on news that was easy to have an opinion on and that had absolutely no consequences for them.
Most of the people pontificating about the future of the Catholic Church hadn't gone near a church in years, and were basing their thoughts mainly on the movie Conclave.
Similarly, not knowing your camogie from your Ogie Moran didn't stop everyone having a view on the skorts, though that seems, in fairness, like a no-brainer. And people who didn't listen to Liveline much were gutted over Joe, because they liked knowing he was there.
Luckily, by the time it emerges that the Pope is indeed a Catholic, who seems pretty hardline on women priests, abortion and matters LGBTQ+, we'll all have moved on to be instant experts in whatever the next pressing issue of the day is.