So, no mention of economic policy from the bishop this morning. He did mention the upcoming Noah movie though, as evidence that the, err, character is still relevant today, so that was cute. Energetic old man, he tries. We have the same first name, which in French is also the pope's name, so, yay coincidence!
The place was two-thirds empty I reckon, even though it's the first Sunday of Advent and our new mayor actually showed up (I didn't vote for him). The parish priest* came to ask where I was from before mass started; he seemed surprised when the answer turned out uninteresting ("I was born a half hour's drive away from here and grew up in this town!"). Remember, I'm the guy who occasionally gets hate-speeched at just walking along the street because idiots think I'm an Orthodox Jew. Welcomed me all the same of course, lost sheep and all. Not that I expected otherwise, really.
*: This is the cathedral at the head of the diocese, two blocks from the bishopric building; there were like five priests and a deacon, plus the bishop, never seen that before. I don't know if there's ceremonial significance or if they're overstaffed.
Not sure if I'll go back. At least I wasn't actually bored, for whatever reason. Novelty, maybe. The music was nice but apparently the violonist they had was a special guest, and they're using the tiny electric organ instead of the awesome one in the back, for cost reasons I assume. They did pass the plate twice, which I did not expect, that's not how it was when I was a kid. I had dropped paper money on the first one but if I return I'll know to pace myself. I guess that's how they get the first-timers.
And that's your Church Report for today. No need to thank me; you may go about your business, citizens.
EDIT: I just realized that the extra priests are probably assigned to parishes that closed down in the last several years and got consolidated into this main one. They gotta go to mass too, I'm sure.