I'm a "practicing" Catholic, but blessed with a couple good parents that provided guidance and clarification. My mother kept me going to Catholic church & catechism enough as a youngster that I lit my own fire. But she also told me the story of a family that had to leave their home during WWII from the approaching Russians (probably Bolsheviks), led by the town priest and his girlfriend, so I've known enough to question things. She also was protective enough of us to not be taken in by the "Vatican II" stuff of the late sixties - she was very based.

Dad on the other hand, probably wouldn't have to remove both socks if he started counting how many times he attended church in his lifetime. But that didn't mean he didn't believe in God. He told me a story from WWII where when Allied planes were flying over towns on their way to bombing cities in Germany, the local folk were told to get whatever firearms they had and shoot up at the planes, even if they were out of reach. If you didn't, the local folk were instructed to turn and fire on you. (We're living through something like that right now with our own friends & relatives with the "vaccines".) This was the only story he had from "the big war", I can only imagine the things he'd seen as a child growing up that might have made him give up on organized religion services. But I do have a copy of his childhood bible, I don't doubt he had a belief in God.

Catholics, the REAL ones, have always taken what the Popes have said with a grain of salt. There's a wheat vs. chaff event going on right now. Remember we all probably supported the Bushes at some point.