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Puerto Ricans must be against Christopher Columbus, right? Wrong, says founding New Boston Post editor-in-chief Jennifer C. Braceras, who points out in The Wall Street Journal that without Columbus there wouldn't be any Latinos — which may explain why a city on the northern coast of Puerto Rico erected a gigantic statue of him last year.
"You're more Catholic than the Pope."
That type of gentle needling has been part of intra-Catholic repartee for decades. It demonstrates good-humored acknowledgement that a friend takes Catholicism very seriously. Going beyond Church rules, the "more Catholic" friend is making sacrifices or acting generously in ways that far exceed expectations. For example, a Catholic may voluntarily observe the pre-Vatican II sacrifices regarding meatless Fridays throughout the entire calendar year, rather than during the sacrificial Lenten season only, as required of all Catholics.