This trope is when not only are
all Christians Catholic, but they're all Roman Catholic (as opposed to Eastern Catholic or Orthodox). If they're part of an order, the men will be priests with crosses, or monks with brown robes, and the women will be nuns in typical habits and wearing or holding rosaries. Lay people will cross themselves and go to confession (in an old-fashioned "booth"
confessional - though this may be largely a matter of
Truth in Television, as that is what most confessionals basically look like
* In case you were wondering, the real-life alternative — never seen on television — to the traditional confessional is the "reconciliation room." This is generally a small, well-lit room in the back of the church; it may double as storage space for candleholders and extra hymnals. There is a freestanding wood-and-burlap screen in the middle. You can either kneel behind the screen, where you will not be seen, only heard, or step around it and look the priest in the eye as you make your confession (which isn't as awkward as it sounds, since they've
heard it all before). If you go to confession in a special event during Advent or Lent, the church might not use either and will instead have several priests stationed in the pews throughout the church. In fact you can have your confession
anywhere as long as there's a priest - if you see your parish pastor at your local Wal-Mart you
can get a confession right there (a staple of "You Know You're Catholic if..." jokes), though there might be problems with the
Seal of Confession
having people in the aisles hearing about your thoughts of murdering your neighbour's kid. Not to mention saying twenty Hail Marys while kneeling on a Bowflex in Sporting Goods.
). Old ladies wearing black veils will be kneeling at their pews praying the Rosary. The icing on the cake, of course, will be the
Ominous Latin Chanting.
Eastern Catholics do not exist. And if the kids go to Catholic school, they wear their
uniforms all day after school.
In other words, just the
basic stereotypical stuff. None of the complexities to
confuse the audience, and especially none of the controversies (unless it's
Ripped from the Headlines).
In
Anime, it's related to
Creepy Cool Crosses and
Nuns Are Mikos.
More frequent in American and Japanese TV series/movies than in European ones.
Trope name comes from, but isn't related to, the
hard rock group
Guns 'N Roses. It also has nothing to do with the opening theme song for
Baccano!!.
Compare
Hollywood Nuns.
Examples:
Anime and Manga
- Subverted in Hellsing, where one of the major conflicts is between the Protestants and the Catholics over how to deal with vampires and other demons.
- Of course, it's the Anglican church, so you get to keep all the fancy decorative bits, and things like holy water, and there's no difficulty over Alucard's source of bullets or anything like that. Now, if England were run by Lutherans...
- Maria†Holic is interesting in that the writers are both having fun with the Catholic Schoolgirl Lesbian Genre and are fully aware of the actual Catholic teachings. One rare serious moment has the Student Council President explaining the Catholic beliefs and how non-Christians get along in that environment. All in all, it's rather respectful to both.
- The nun division in Mahou Sensei Negima!'s academy defense is utterly saturated with this trope. Of course, they only show up in one arc, and even then it's quite a brief one, as only 3 members are ever seen.
Film
- Highlander (1) has this when Macleod goes into a cathedral to pray. Lots of nuns and crossing yourself when the Kurgan bids them happy Halloween...
- Nuns. No sense of humour. (It is hallowed ground, though.)
- A confessional of this type is set up in the firehouse in Ladder 49. Although this might not count, since it's one of the jokes played on the rookies.
Western Animation
- In the episode of The Simpsons where Bart and Homer convert to Roman Catholicism, it's pretty much a cliché fest, full of nuns and confessionals. Marge imagines Catholic Heaven at one point, and sees a bunch of Irish, Mexican and Italian people partying. Not to mention, Homer's and Bart's most favourite activities were to become Bingo, pancakes, praying with rosaries, and blasting the streets with tommy-guns.
New Media
- The blog Wear Your Mantilla briefly discusses this trope, in relation to a stock photo of an olive-skinned woman with a headcovering and a rosary.
