re: #737 Walter L. Newton

There have been for centuries (I’m sure I’m not telling you any new here) protocols about relationships between different (usually European) states (volumes written on diplomatic procedures, hosting foreign dignitaries, meeting leaders, etc., etc.) Usually, to avoid embarrassment, a leader of a state will be given advice (his advisers explain what the protocols are — so then the leader can follow those protocols, and thus, not bring about a “faux pas” or do something hideously embarrassing — such as a Prime Minister at a State Funeral, during a Catholic Mass, pocketing the “host.”) Anyway, “no,” I’m not Catholic, but “yes,” one should follow the protocol of women being dressed in black, veiling, etc., when visiting the pope.