• jarfil@beehaw.org
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    10 months ago

    A quick primer on Saints: from the 10 Commandments…

    1. You shall have no other gods before Me
    2. You shall not make idols
    3. […]

    …but having over 10,000 Saints, whom people buy figures and pictures of, then pray to them “to intercede for them before the one and only true God”, is fine.

    The number has increased by something like 2,000 new ones in just the last couple decades. Nowadays there are Saints for everything, like:

    • Patron Saint of the Internet: St. Isidore of Seville, named by Pope John Paul II. St. Isidore was bishop of Seville in 600 AD
    • Patron Saint of the Internet: Carlo Acutis, named by Pope Francis. Was an Italian schoolboy who helped spread Roman Catholic teaching online before he died of leukemia in 2006

    Yes, there are duplicates, so people can pick their favorite. And yes, there are all sorts of collectibles.

    • liv@beehaw.org
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      10 months ago

      Nowadays there are Saints for everything

      There have always been local gods for everything.

      This is why Catholicism has historically been such a sucessful religion, it’s inherently quite syncretic.

      It adapts to local conditions and incorporates aspects, just like capitalism and viruses.