Alanis Morissette is digging into her past to get some promotion for her new album, which has sold around 270,000 copies. First she told us about her experimental stage of ‘loving women up’, now she’s talking about being insulted by the Vatican.
The singer met the pontiff in Rome in 2000, but some French clergymen ruined the magical experience.
Morissette says the problems occurred as she left the stage after meeting the pope, and did not know whether to walk in front of cardinals or not.
She explains, “I’m post-Catholic; I don’t know how it works anymore, so there was this awkward moment and I walked in front of them.
“They were all French and they were speaking about me behind me, saying how rude and horrible I was.
“I speak French, so I bit my tongue the whole way out and they were just ripping me apart, and then right at the tail end. … I just turned back and spoke to them in French and said, ‘Thank you so much for your kindness.'”
I used to work in an office with people that spoke different languages, and eventually we had to implement an ‘English Only’ policy as too much gossip was being spread! I would have loved to have done this to a few people that worked there – on more than one occasion I pointed out that gesturing towards the person who you were talking about made it a dead giveaway!
I do have to wonder, and maybe a Catholic might be able to answer this for me, what a lapsed Catholic is doing meeting the Pope? Not that non-Catholics don’t deserve an audience with him, but it does seem a little strange to me.
Picture note by Celebitchy: Alanis Morissette is shown on 04/08/08. Her hair is gorgeous. Credit: Fame
She is rude and horrible.
People who have done business with her all say the same thing.
I would have to have much more (substantiated) evidence than Joe leaves, or some nasty French speaking Vatican officials gossipping) in order to change my opinion about her. She seems to me like a really cool person.
I’ve been lucky enough to interview Ms. Morissette a few times. In studio, on-location and even on the run….she has always been, without fail, wonderful…unguarded, funny and bright. Joe be crazy!
To the Church, there’s really no such thing as a lapsed Catholic. Once you’re confirmed as an adult member of the Church, you’re in for life, even if you never attend Church and never recieve any of the sacraments. You can no more stop being a Catholic than you can stop being a woman, or a man. That’d be the official position, which is not to say that a person cannot consider herself a lapsed Catholic.
Well you can be a lapsed Catholic but still hedge your bets.
I’m Catholic but not a church-going, confession-going one but, as Photo Jojo says, you’re in it for life. I still completely believe in some form of greater power out there.
I have a grand aunt who, on the strength of meeting the pope FOUR TIMES, believes she’ll get better treatment when she lands at the pearly gates. Like a nice bungalow with a small garden, rather than shared accommodation on the third floor. AND she’s very smug about it. 8)
Forget it people. After the 1960s Quebec provance has rejected catholicism. Most people never get married in the church (except Italians)and basically ignore the institution. Just use it for burials.Quebec is littered with churches from the past. Some with beautiful stained glass windows become apartment houses. The penthouses are mind blowing. Where Alanis hales from the catholic religion is as close to being protestant as you can get.
Mwahahaha, geronimo, sounds like some of my family as well!
It isn’t true that you are always Catholic no matter what. People renounce their Catholic faith all the time officially and unofficially. Some people write a letter to their bishop but it isn’t necessary. People leave the church all the time.
Yes, I am a church-attending, confession-going Catholic, FTR.
Geronimo~ You’re Irish, right? My fiance & I are both Caothlic & mostly Irish. And I TOTALLY have family like that!
Haha, guys, it’s all true! (and yes, bodhi, I am.)
As my grand aunt says: “Mock me all ye want, but ye’ll be laughing on the other side of ye’re faces when the time comes.”!! She’s a scream, always urging holy medals and prayer cards (blessed at Lourdes and Fatima) on us!
My grandparents packed up their 3 youngest, bought an RV, & shipped out to Europe to drive around & visit shrines! Can you imagine a gaint Winabago (sp?) squeezing down the streets of Rome? 😆 I hope they put in a good word for me with the man upstairs!
Joe: She is rude and horrible.People who have done business with her all say the same thing.
Coming from a total stranger who’s never met her, your opinion really matters- not. 🙄
Ever since the Catholic church hid, protected and transferred around these pedophile priests they have lost any ground that they might have had to judge anyone from. All religions have imperfect people in them or they would be completely empty on Sunday, however in this case I’m referring to the LEADERSHIP of this organization, very different. I think a religious organization should reflect the god they represent, and in the Catholic churches case, I just couldn’t worshp or love their child abuse allowing god. And yes I was raised Catholic. There I said it, in the word’s of Mills Lane “LETS GET IT ON!!”
Who cares what a bunch of dress-wearing pedophiles think?
Lol, bodhi, sounds like a TRIP!
No argument from me on the leadership, Kevin. It’s will never recover from that. Talk about testing people’s faith…
I have never read negative accounts of her behavior, Joe, so not buying it.
I can believe the cardinals and other esteemed members of the clergy were sniggering. Like in any organization there tends to be unmitigated superiority that afflicts the highest members. We are human and that’s just the way that works.
The Catholic church = big business and richer than any of us can imagine. I went to Catholic schools, blah blah like my immigrant Irish family all did. However I stopped attending church (lazy, and the masses are too long) and confession (I refuse to think I cannot work it out between me and god in prayer) so I feel like I cannot state I’m a Catholic anymore when others practice and I don’t.
Like another comment above I became enraged when the clergy just seemed to shuffle the deck per se and assign convicted pedophile priests to other parishes. Anyone knows it just perpetuates..it’s a band aid solution and one I find repulsive. I know there is a shortage of clergymen but it’s amazing they just send them somewhere else and hope no one notices. It’s shady. It’s another reason I will be the first person in my family who has not had a son as an altar boy. Over my dead body!
“I just couldn’t worship or love their child abuse allowing god”
Kevin, You shouldn’t shut out a relationship with God because of what these men did. If you aren’t happy with the Catholic church then don’t go, but don’t turn your back on God because of it. You said that “a religious organization should reflect the god they represent” and they should, but they didn’t. That’s their fault, not God’s. I was raised Catholic too I don’t remember hearing or reading anything anywhere that said God approved of what these priests did. I’m sure God finds it just as horrible and despicable as we do. I’m not trying to get up on a soap box here or make any judgments, it just makes me sad to think that you too could lose something meaningful because of the vile acts of these men.
@Okay
Children are a reflection of their father; even spiritual ones.
You have to formally resign from the Church if you do not wish to be counted/considered Catholic.
You would think that meeting someone of world stature would cause her to think a little about etiquette beforehand. Typically, it is rank before “beauty” regardless.
Nice to see the Catholic Church bashers on the site…
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call a “SPANK!” Well played, Miss Morissette, well played.
“Nice to see the Catholic Church bashers on the site”
Facts are facts. Read about the problems the church has been having with pedophilia sometime.. or just purse your lips and pretend it’s not going on.
I thought Canon Law basically stated that you’re in it for life too. Not that I’ve bothered much with Canon law before 😆 As for paedophiles – none of us are advocating that nobody sends their children to schools even though there are plenty of cases of teachers abusing their charges. I’m not in anyway defending the coverup of these crimes and the actions of the political institution that is the Church, but they don’t represent all of the clergy, many of whom have done immense good in their communities.
Now the correct term for geronimo is an “a la carte Catholic”
As for your aunt – FOUR times she’s met a Pontiff!?!?! That’s just feckin’ greedy 😛
And I’m assuming that every new car gets a liberal dose of the Holy Water otherwise I’ll be severely disappointed in her! (ideally dispensed from an ancient glass lucozade or whiskey bottle or even a glow-in-the-dark-Virgin-Mary bottle 😈
Nice to see the Catholic Church bashers on the site…
If we taxed the Catholic church’s land alone, there would be no national debt in America.
If you’re gonna bash the American Catholic Church for property & money, please be sure to do the same for every other denomination.
I agree her hair looks great (very Julia Roberts) and, more important, I think her response to the Catholic priests–en francais, thank you for kindness–was right on. 🙂
@Bodhi: The other denominations don’t OWN THEIR OWN COUNTRY.
Preface: I don’t believe in organized religion, but loads of my family do & I understand where they are coming from.
@ vdantev: Vatican City hardly counts as a country. The mega-churches, etc. have far far more resources than the Catholic Church.
Faith in a particular religion doesn’t make the practitioner culpable for whatever evils that religion has done.
It’s a country on the map, that’s all I need to consider, but I’ll concede your point on the other denominations being taxed as well- but to be fair we were only discussing the Catholic branch in this story.
Oh, I know. I just think that comparison between denominations is in order
I think that the Vatican is an NGO (non-governmental organization) with the UN, for what its worth. I do see a bit of a double standard here. Other denominations and as someone pointed out public schools suffer from the same scandals (abuse AND cover ups), even with more frequency in some cases, but don’t seem to incur the same wrath from people. Me? I think that anyone involved with the crime and subsequent cover-up, whether by clergy (of any faith) or teachers or any other person who uses their office to take advantage of some of the most defenseless among us should be put underneath the jail.
Sooooo – Vdantev wants the US to tax the Vatican City to alleviate the National Debt? Um. What?
Besides – much of the land in other countries is not in the hands of the clergy, but rather in the hands of the religious (monasteries and convents). The two things are quite different. The priests are directly responsible to their bishops, who in turn are responsible to their primates and then to the Pope. The religious are responsible to their order.
Anyway, you’d better get a move on vdantev as the religious in many countries are selling off their assets at a rate of knots. 😛
“a la carte Catholic” – Love it. I think that accounts for quite a few of us!
And yes re the sprinkling. Anything that moves. The blessed stuff is kept in a variety of bottles (always bleached beforehand – cleanliness being next to Godliness) but she keeps the Holy Mary fancy ones in her glass cabinet.
“Sooooo – Vdantev wants the US to tax the Vatican City to alleviate the National Debt? Um. What?”
Don’t know if you aren’t from the US, but if you qualify as a tax-exempt religious organization you do not have to pay property taxes (I think).
@ Mairead,
Thanks for not actually reading the post before responding to it. You get a D- for the day.
I thought the US did relieve the National Dept when Clinton was in office. Then look what Mr Bush did….got us back there in the trillions!
To relieve the national dept perhaps we should just stop committing war crimes in other countries and stop giving business men the right to over charge for the US Government for toilet seats and hammers and then maybe all those boys and girls that were not fortunate enough to die on foreign soil, would not have to rot in VA hospitals by the tens of thousands being given inadequate care. Does anyone know the number or wounded young men and women rot in VA hospitals? If that isn’t child abuse I do not know what is.
Interesting to see how some can go on about the catholic church when their own government is torturing people and holding them in concentration camps. That’s abuse, isn’t it? Get your own house in order before start going after Vatican City, not that someone should take those people to task as well.
Well a D- certainly is better than the migraine I’ve currently gotten for the day.
And calm down snarky britches – I did read all of your posts and that’s what it read like to me – fair enough, that wasn’t what you meant, but I found it confusing.
ALANIS is an atrocious fake nasty person. People in the biz know it and SIMON COWELL is talking about her being the nasty singer he had the misfortune of meeting.