On this episode of The Catholic Talk Show, we discuss the craziest Catholic rules you’ve never heard of. From understanding when and why they hit the Pope in the head with a hammer to which animals you can and can’t eat during Lent – this episode covers it all!

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Great show gentlemen. Keep up the good work.
Thank you!
Love your show, just started listening!
Thanks for listening, Janis!
I would love to see you eat muskrat. Can you take my brother with you? He lives in Wisconsin.
If there comes a day when the three of us are together in Wisconsin during Lent, it’s gonna be a muskrat feast!
Why was the Governor of the Anglican Church Q E II allowed to meet Pope Francis wearing white?
She used to wear all black before Pope Francis’ Papacy.
Royalty have traditionally been allowed to wear white.
Capybaras are the largest rodent. South American and very cute. They don’t look like rodents with sharp faces like rats, mice, etc.
A question about dispensations. This came up a couple of years ago, and I asked a variety of Catholic folks who have FB pages, and nobody could/would answer. If you live on the border between two diocese, and one has a dispensation and the other doesn’t, are you bound by geography or by location? I live 3 miles from the diocesan line…I work in one diocese and live in another…and there have been times when my bishop hasn’t issued a dispensation, but the neighboring bishop has. Is there a general rule-of-thumb about this?
Beth,
Where do you go to Church? Within which diocese does your parish lie (the one you are registered in)? That’s the one whose rules you follow.
Switzerland is not a Catholic country. It is about half Catholic, half Protestant (Calvin, Zwingli, etc were all Swiss) and we also have a nice Jewish population. There are some Catholic Cantons – where public holidays are Catholic feast days.
Boys who join the Swiss guard do not have to do military service. Switzerland is neutral but we have an army. What the soldiers do is dig people out from under landslides and avalanches, find people who are lost in the mountains …
You mean Bishop MOONan. I love listening to you guys. I’ve used your Podcasts in some of my religion classes. Great topics.
Fun and informative…what more could you ask for? Love.
Hi guys,
The Church has less rules than the Notre Dame teaching nuns had for my 12 years of Catholic schooling if you want to talk about rules! They were fire-breathing dragons some of them if/when you broke the rules but you couldn’t fault their teaching skills. I broke rules they hadn’t even made yet more often than not. Personally, since I was a kid, I thought almost all their rules were crazy!
Interesting rule about women not being able to wear white when meeting the Pope, it reminds me how you are not supposed to wear white to a wedding because of the bride. So only royalty, or reigning Catholic princesses or queens, are allowed to wear white while in private audience with the Pope, and I am sure these same exceptions could be made at most weddings too just because of the celebrity status they would automatically confer upon any wedding. You come up with unusual rules and topics. The world is a strange place for sure.
I think Queen Latifah rocks too! She would make a very interesting guest, I agree with you. She is a non-denominational Christian. With one of my friends it means he belongs to the Church of Me.
RD good question about the start of the Swiss Guard protecting the Pope, and when it happened. Their neutrality got them the job according to RS. Makes sense as far as not having to worry about the Pope covering his back. I think you should invite a retired Swiss Guard to a podcast and get the inside dope on life within the Guard, plus more history of the Swiss Guard would be nice too.
After listening to your dining experiences, and food preferences, I will forego any recipes you want to share with your fans. I am not into Muskrat Mousse. However, in addition to Queen Latifah possibly coming on board maybe there are fans out there with favorite Catholic food recipes eaten during Lent, or Christmas, that can be shared in a podcast or two.
RS, I agree that Paul McCartney knew about the (silver) hammer test for life on a dead Pope. I have heard the Beatle song and that would be their humor. Of course, there may have been hammer accidents in the past if the hammer slipped or someone did not know their own strength. I am so glad they don’t hit dead Popes on the head with a hammer any more. Large margin for error, and it seems so disrespectful.
Fr. Rich you are so right, peace is a personal responsibility. Peace starts in one heart and spreads outward.
Fun podcast! Thanks! TTFN and God Bless Us Everyone!