Like a few on here, I was brought up Catholic (or to quote John Irving, a Mackerel Snapper!) by my mum, a proper Irish/Liverpool catholic. Where I grew up, Ashford in Kent, there was a large Catholic presence, lots of Irish, Poles, Africans and English Catholics. Went to Catholic primary school, secondary school, was an altar boy, 1st confession (a horrible, nasty little rite forced on children), 1st communion, confirmation etc. I never really saw or heard anything anti-catholic, bar 5th November until I was in my 20's.
I think though, that common with a lot of religions, when brought up with it, you never really take it that seriously. Sure, the guilt bit does get in there, not touching "down there", listening to Slayer. It does take a while to sjake it all out of your head.
However, not having been to mass for about 20 years, I went to my Godmothers funeral and actually found it quite comforting that some institutions change at such a glacial pace.
not touching "down there", listening to Slayer.
When people say that metal fans 'bang their heads' they really aren't joking are they? 😯
The prayer re: Mary and returning England to the Catholic Faith is derived from Faber's hymn 'Faith of our Fathers', the tune for which you may know as the theme song to the old sitcom 'Bless me Father'.
And to be clear, it is not about England being returned to 'the Catholic dominion', but to the faith that once defined the country. Slight difference, but an important one. Either way, it is hardly a surprise that a faith community would pray that the faith they adhere to might be more widely shared, and that prayers to that effect might be offered within the context of a meeting of that community.
A specific example on Ireland, I was told by a good friend (from South) that although I was Catholic I would not be welcome (or even safe) in Republican bars as I was English and that would by far over-rule my religion as a factor.
Your average Irish person probably wouldn't be safe in those kind of bars either, - they exist, but at least down the south, are far and few between. They're just rough pubs more than anything else. You'd probably have to go out of your way to find them. The vast, vast majority of people in Ireland couldn't give a toss about that kind of thing.
I believe this was one of the reason Charles couldn't marry Camilla originally. Daft.
Sorry - he could have married her if he wanted to (and shown the law to be as stupid as it was) but instead he wanted to inherit the prime position in an absurd constitutional and religious arrangement in which the primary qualification is who your parents are. Daft.
