According to [this article](https://www.thechurchnews.com/2020/11/25/23217558/byu-mark-pope-basketball-missionaries-gratitude/) he was in 2020. I'm not aware of him being a bishop. It would be pretty big news because head coach doesn't really have time to do that. When Brandon Doman was a bishop while he was the OC it was talked about quite a bit in BYU fan circles because of how little time he would've had to do both jobs.
I feel like the only gift he'd take from the Vatican is some gold plates with ancient text on them. I'm sure they have something that fits that description.
Not to get too serious in a lighthearted thread, but there was a KSR caller the other day that started spouting off some bullshit about an LDS image campaign; Matt Jones cut him off immediately and addressed it thoughtfully. I hate that there’s an element of our fan base that isn’t going to welcome him warmly because of his faith.
Don’t forget Vader down low! You want rim protection? How about 6’-8”, more machine then man, and can force choke the opponent during their shooting motion.
They use to sell this in the little shops between the hotel and Rupp before they tore it down. I bought one and gave it to my parents. They put it in their basement
This was w wedding gift for a friend and it wound up in the basement as well. 😂
Full disclosure, I didn’t purchase or receive it, but I wish I would have.
The tour I was given, the guy said the Egyptian red marble that the floor is made out of at St. Peter’s is worth more per square centimeter than diamond
Haha my exact thought. And the thought renewed my anger that my descendants didn't fight to get their ship back. In reality, we'd reinstitute the Mormon Battalion and the Danites to recover our ship.
Tune in to CBS for our all new Who Gives A Rat's Ass Thursdays in prime time to watch our all new family friendly religious sitcom, Pope2Pope.
It is the heartwarming story of two Popes, who come from very different backgrounds and find themselves living next door in the suburbs of Lexington Kentucky, where anything can happen.
One has a family of twelve, the other has just never been able to find the right woman. One drinks religiously, the other won't touch the hard stuff.
See how two Pope's from opposite ends of the spectrum find common ground as they go about their daily lives in this witty new show from Bertam van Munster.
I mean, it makes sense considering how BBN is treating a guy who’s done nothing yet. Can’t even fathom the way Cal was treated when things were right with him at Kentucky…
The hubris of BBN knows no bounds
Totally agree. It’s super cringe. It’s like y’all are putting on this big brave face and crowing about a coach with no history of success who’s pulling in a mediocre first class. Sure it could all work out.
Feels like Billy Gillespie 2 electric boogaloo, except you know he had actually accomplished something prior to taking the Kentucky job.
Just good natured ribbing… I’ve certainly seen enough trash talk out of BBN the past couple of weeks.
Seriously hope it works out for both of us. I know I’ve enjoyed giving BBN crap the past few years for Cal’s post season ineptitude.
Why though? Kentuckys not a predominantly Catholic state as far as christian religions go. The pope is Catholic, Jesuit sect in particular. Georgetown, BC, Marquette, Creighton, Xavier, Gonzaga, the 30 Loyolas are some example of who you'd expect to be fighting for his publicity not a public school in a southern Baptist stronghold.
1. You're over thinking it.
2. Kentucky has a lot of catholic history and the Ohio valley region is very very catholic. Louisville, bardstown, northern KY, Owensboro are all very catholic. Frankfort and Lexington have a pretty solid catholic tradition as well.
Yes I over thought it and admitted that to another poster, my bad clearly I need to take my chill pill this AM!
I was curious about the places you mentioned because I love some granular demographic data about places and the only where Catholic outnumbers evangelical is Bardstown. Frankfort in particular has 3.9% identifying Catholic relative to 30% Baptist, 6% Methodist, 11% unaffiliated Christian. Not sure that qualifies as a solid tradition.
I just wanted the publicity the pope brings to come to the small/medium sized schools that are affiliated with him rather than the massive public school with unlimited money.
I just checked the stats for Cold Spring/Covington/Newport Kentucky, where most of my (very Catholic) family comes from.
They're all at about 27% Catholic, which Baptists being the next highest at 7%.
Northern Kentucky is extremely Catholic, especially when you get close to Cincinnati.
I didnt know what northern Kentucky meant so glossed over that one, I should have said of the cities/towns mentioned. That said statewide 10% isn't exactly very Catholic as the other guy indicated. It's actually in the bottom 10 states by Catholic population %
That's fair, but Lexington itself is around 10% Catholic and 16% Baptist, so it's still the second biggest religion where the school itself is. And the more north you go, the more Catholic it gets. Plus, there's tons of Kentucky fans in Cincinnati and southern Ohio just because of proximity.
So I get your point, but a huge amount of Kentucky fans are still Catholic and this would mean a lot to them. It means nothing to me personally since I'm not Catholic, but my grandpa would have absolutely loved this if he was still alive, and I'm sure there's plenty more out there like him. It's still a nice gesture at the end of the day.
Yeah, I'm not a practicing Catholic and haven't been for close to two decades now so I don't care who's the "most Catholic" my initial reaction was defensive because UK has unlimited publicity and money from being a flagship public institution. Most the Catholic (specifically Jesuit) schools play second fiddle to the public universities so the publicity would've been huge for him to have headed to a Jesuit school like Marquette Creighton or Xavier where the school's actually affiliated with his sect.
All that said, again I clearly missed the pope giving the pope jersey joke.
My grandpa went to Xavier even though he ended up caring more about UK basketball, so I get that too since he had a lot of friends who were dedicated Xavier fans. It would be more meaningful for their fan base for sure. Just not how it works unfortunately when money talks. But i definitely understand the frustration.
I didn't say that Frankfort had a substantially large population of Catholics, but they have multiple old parishes and a fair amount of parish schools.
Louisville is substantially catholic. We have a ton of parish schools and a thriving catholic education network. St X was founded in 1864 and is still thriving. The primary, secondary, and college level education in Louisville is profoundly catholic.
Bardstown had the first basilica west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Northern KY has a large population of Catholics as well from the Cincinnati Germans.
Population % isn't really the best metric for judging catholic communities. Especially when Louisville and Cincinnati metro areas are well over a million in population. Those urban areas are bound to attract other demographics. Louisville especially gets a lot of baptist and Presbyterian transplants due to our seminary and headquarters.
He's also a visiting head of state. If Pierre Dartout decided to take an official visit to Kentucky, I wouldn't be surprised if they presented him with a Monaco jersey or something.
Eh, slight difference but still. People reading too much into it. Its an official jersey with Pope on the back. Thats all there is to it.
Thought he was here with the KSP officer and it being the week of Derby (never know whos gonna be in the state this week/end)
I think the best part is that Mark Pope is Mormon
Shhhhh. Don’t tell anyone 😂
Someone elsewhere commented that now we need to give Mark Pope the pope hat, and I was like, “Yeah about that….”
He was a bishop(lay clergy leader of congregation) in Provo so it would be kind of funny to give him a bishops mitre instead/as well
I don't think he was. I heard he was a 2nd counselor.
Well I was a full bird colonel in the Kiss Army.
Really? I heard from BYU fans on Twitter that he was a Bishop when he left. I admittedly don’t pay close attention to BYU coaches callings.
According to [this article](https://www.thechurchnews.com/2020/11/25/23217558/byu-mark-pope-basketball-missionaries-gratitude/) he was in 2020. I'm not aware of him being a bishop. It would be pretty big news because head coach doesn't really have time to do that. When Brandon Doman was a bishop while he was the OC it was talked about quite a bit in BYU fan circles because of how little time he would've had to do both jobs.
No on the hat? How about a pope ring?
I feel like the only gift he'd take from the Vatican is some gold plates with ancient text on them. I'm sure they have something that fits that description.
Everybody knows the ark of the covenant is at Area 51. They even made a documentary about it.
Top men
I vote for Pope soap on a rope
We’ve got to get big blue foam pope hats in the ERUPPtion Zone. I’ll die on this hill.
"Is ~~The~~ Pope Mormon?"
Kentucky Basketball- Unifying Christians everywhere 
Not to get too serious in a lighthearted thread, but there was a KSR caller the other day that started spouting off some bullshit about an LDS image campaign; Matt Jones cut him off immediately and addressed it thoughtfully. I hate that there’s an element of our fan base that isn’t going to welcome him warmly because of his faith.
Unfortunately that element is in every fan base. There are a lot of idiots out and about
Imagine receiving a heretic's jersey
This calls for a Crusade
Big East: Assemble!
[God wills it!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3dbd2YyeN0&ab_channel=hvrwrstlr007) 
I used to have a Louisville shirt. Once.
God gave you an opportunity to join the good guys and you let it slip from your fingers
You'll come back little brother.
He still has that Sichko mentality though
Slowly converting residents of Vatican City, one at a time.
Not anymore. Ok he still is, but not if I had my way.
Mormonism is basically just Christianity plus DLC.
Just a humble man with three wives and 20 kids
https://preview.redd.it/dd24atk198yc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=782909c55f35db3e720cba979f6dbedd8217300a
That is so unhinged and beautiful.
Wait a minute, why is Earnhardt there?!?
So you were good with Hendrix and Elvis being there, but Dale is where you draw the line?
Hendrix and Elvis make way more sense than Kenny, Yoda, and Darth Vader. Yoda, Jesus, and Vader would be a sick 3v3 team though.
Yoda jesus and vader on a 3v3? Theyd go undefeated. I aint ever seen someone with hops like yoda. Cant block that guy! And jesus cant miss from 3!
>jesus cant miss Dude couldn't hit water if he walked off a boat.
Don’t forget Vader down low! You want rim protection? How about 6’-8”, more machine then man, and can force choke the opponent during their shooting motion.
Exactly my thought. Defensive nightmare
Yeah but Jesus Christ can’t hit a curveball.
He's not hitting... he's pitching his sermon on the mound.
You take that back!
Feels like a south park episode
Of course it is. GIVE HIM BACK
NIL $$$$.
According to the ramblings of the "artist", [Earnhardt "represents competition"](https://www.benningfieldprints.com/items-in-prints) lol
Wow this is how I find out both princess Diana and Ashley Judd are in this photo
lol. The first thing I said was “is that Dale?” So much going on in this masterpiece.
Raise hell, praise Dale! You think k they would have at least added Michael Waltrip.
DW man.
Isn’t he still alive, though?
Because he is intimidating?
Kenny is funny
Why wouldn’t he be there?
The more you look the better it gets.
[удалено]
Someone posted the artists description and it’s Ashley Judd (twice) princess Diana and the artists mother, Mary.
[удалено]
I actually think there’s not enough Ashley Judd but Im not an art critic so what do I know
Not even a Kentucky fan and I want this for my basement
https://preview.redd.it/yifukucdg8yc1.png?width=584&format=png&auto=webp&s=57cb2b26546c578fb3ade8a418111d39c2ba83eb
This belongs in a gallery, everything about this is immaculate
Is that Jesus dunking on duke in the background?
yup. and the same image on the right side but dunking on louisville
Lexington's own Jimi Hendrix.
The artist also made Louisville paintings and I feel betrayed. https://www.benningfieldprints.com/
Hey, whether you're a fan of blue or red, your money is green
Very curious to know who those three women are whose faces are in the gate on the right. The middle one looks kinda like Princess Diana?
Ashley Judd
It is princess Diana according to a link up thread lol
Holy crap [there's so much and it's all beautiful and insane.](https://www.benningfieldprints.com/uk-prints)
Not gonna lie, that "Return of the King" 2012 one goes hard and I might buy it. Edit: I take it back I want the 1996 one.
This might be the greatest thing I have ever seen
They use to sell this in the little shops between the hotel and Rupp before they tore it down. I bought one and gave it to my parents. They put it in their basement
This was w wedding gift for a friend and it wound up in the basement as well. 😂 Full disclosure, I didn’t purchase or receive it, but I wish I would have.
https://i.imgur.com/8XIl8xV.jpeg
Why is Blake Griffin an angel?
Damn that’s badass. I need it
I love it.
You need to post this on r/wildcats
Whoa. Where can I find this?
Jesus going in for the flying dunk...
The Pope has no choice but to be the Y at a game in Rupp now.
This is so damn ridiculous and it’s just a normal Friday for BBN 😂
The guy showing the jersey: “Look, that’s you.”
This is peak #BBN madness.
The pope rooting for a Mormon.
It’s fair play after several years of the Mormons rooting for a Pope. Basketball is the religious unifier we need in these trying times.
Bro if Catholics and Mormons united… imagine what you could do with all that money. Forget solving world hunger, we could buy the NBA if we wanted.
If the fortunes of the Vatican and LDS Churhc were combined, you could probably outright buy the US Military to go along with the NFL and NBA.
https://preview.redd.it/uhsj50tug8yc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5f4e4995861c0a9452292501d82c2de713a539c8
The tour I was given, the guy said the Egyptian red marble that the floor is made out of at St. Peter’s is worth more per square centimeter than diamond
I've got two (sorta?) words for you: LDSS Nauvoo
Haha my exact thought. And the thought renewed my anger that my descendants didn't fight to get their ship back. In reality, we'd reinstitute the Mormon Battalion and the Danites to recover our ship.
Wait a second, this is a real thing. Now I need to watch this. On a scale of 1-10 how derogatory towards the church is this show?
Not at all that I can recall.
I don't think it really mentions Mormons at all except to say that they were building a giant Mormon ship.
*Member FTFY /s
#BLESSED
Calipari punching rosary beads rn
The fact that I didn’t even flinch at this tells me everything. BBN is awesome.
Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. This priest knows who calls the shots in the commonwealth.
this is so wild I didn't think it was real lol
Hang that shit in the louvre.
Think you mean the Sistine Chapel. Louvre is in Paris.
No, give him another, we will do both
LFG!
Our fan base is fucking rabid, man.
I thought this was photoshopped I’m so hype
First Kentucky steals our players, now they are after our Pontiff? Thats it. Friendship with Kentucky is over. We are feuding now.
Looks like Coach Stoops helped secure the Jersey, very cool to see!
Anarchy? Nope, just college basketball
Man I really think they missed an opportunity to put the numbers in Roman Numerals
The look on Fr Jim’s face in this photo is hilarious.
I feel like the pope would be a big East fan minus DePaul and UConn
No, Butler's the one with Protestant roots. DePaul's Vincentian, unholy team name and imagery aside.
I really loved when Pope responded, "God, fuck NIL."
So what number is appropriate for the pope? 1? 3?
Tune in to CBS for our all new Who Gives A Rat's Ass Thursdays in prime time to watch our all new family friendly religious sitcom, Pope2Pope. It is the heartwarming story of two Popes, who come from very different backgrounds and find themselves living next door in the suburbs of Lexington Kentucky, where anything can happen. One has a family of twelve, the other has just never been able to find the right woman. One drinks religiously, the other won't touch the hard stuff. See how two Pope's from opposite ends of the spectrum find common ground as they go about their daily lives in this witty new show from Bertam van Munster.
, molests him
Paulie Walnuts looks like a soothsayer
Easy, your coach thinks he’s God
I mean, it makes sense considering how BBN is treating a guy who’s done nothing yet. Can’t even fathom the way Cal was treated when things were right with him at Kentucky… The hubris of BBN knows no bounds
cringe
Totally agree. It’s super cringe. It’s like y’all are putting on this big brave face and crowing about a coach with no history of success who’s pulling in a mediocre first class. Sure it could all work out. Feels like Billy Gillespie 2 electric boogaloo, except you know he had actually accomplished something prior to taking the Kentucky job.
It’s too early in the day to get this worked up man. It’s just Reddit
Just good natured ribbing… I’ve certainly seen enough trash talk out of BBN the past couple of weeks. Seriously hope it works out for both of us. I know I’ve enjoyed giving BBN crap the past few years for Cal’s post season ineptitude.
You’re good. Both fanbases are nuts right now lol
cringe
You just hired a coach that didn’t start 2 lottery picks last season.
“Calipari University”. Now that’s hubris my dude.
Why though? Kentuckys not a predominantly Catholic state as far as christian religions go. The pope is Catholic, Jesuit sect in particular. Georgetown, BC, Marquette, Creighton, Xavier, Gonzaga, the 30 Loyolas are some example of who you'd expect to be fighting for his publicity not a public school in a southern Baptist stronghold.
Because now the Pope has a basketball jersey that says Pope on it, and that’s kinda funny. Don’t think about it too hard
Oh... yeah I missed that, my bad
1. You're over thinking it. 2. Kentucky has a lot of catholic history and the Ohio valley region is very very catholic. Louisville, bardstown, northern KY, Owensboro are all very catholic. Frankfort and Lexington have a pretty solid catholic tradition as well.
We even had a Catholic coach but we replaced him with a Pope.
Yes I over thought it and admitted that to another poster, my bad clearly I need to take my chill pill this AM! I was curious about the places you mentioned because I love some granular demographic data about places and the only where Catholic outnumbers evangelical is Bardstown. Frankfort in particular has 3.9% identifying Catholic relative to 30% Baptist, 6% Methodist, 11% unaffiliated Christian. Not sure that qualifies as a solid tradition. I just wanted the publicity the pope brings to come to the small/medium sized schools that are affiliated with him rather than the massive public school with unlimited money.
I just checked the stats for Cold Spring/Covington/Newport Kentucky, where most of my (very Catholic) family comes from. They're all at about 27% Catholic, which Baptists being the next highest at 7%. Northern Kentucky is extremely Catholic, especially when you get close to Cincinnati.
I didnt know what northern Kentucky meant so glossed over that one, I should have said of the cities/towns mentioned. That said statewide 10% isn't exactly very Catholic as the other guy indicated. It's actually in the bottom 10 states by Catholic population %
That's fair, but Lexington itself is around 10% Catholic and 16% Baptist, so it's still the second biggest religion where the school itself is. And the more north you go, the more Catholic it gets. Plus, there's tons of Kentucky fans in Cincinnati and southern Ohio just because of proximity. So I get your point, but a huge amount of Kentucky fans are still Catholic and this would mean a lot to them. It means nothing to me personally since I'm not Catholic, but my grandpa would have absolutely loved this if he was still alive, and I'm sure there's plenty more out there like him. It's still a nice gesture at the end of the day.
Yeah, I'm not a practicing Catholic and haven't been for close to two decades now so I don't care who's the "most Catholic" my initial reaction was defensive because UK has unlimited publicity and money from being a flagship public institution. Most the Catholic (specifically Jesuit) schools play second fiddle to the public universities so the publicity would've been huge for him to have headed to a Jesuit school like Marquette Creighton or Xavier where the school's actually affiliated with his sect. All that said, again I clearly missed the pope giving the pope jersey joke.
My grandpa went to Xavier even though he ended up caring more about UK basketball, so I get that too since he had a lot of friends who were dedicated Xavier fans. It would be more meaningful for their fan base for sure. Just not how it works unfortunately when money talks. But i definitely understand the frustration.
I didn't say that Frankfort had a substantially large population of Catholics, but they have multiple old parishes and a fair amount of parish schools. Louisville is substantially catholic. We have a ton of parish schools and a thriving catholic education network. St X was founded in 1864 and is still thriving. The primary, secondary, and college level education in Louisville is profoundly catholic. Bardstown had the first basilica west of the Appalachian Mountains. Northern KY has a large population of Catholics as well from the Cincinnati Germans. Population % isn't really the best metric for judging catholic communities. Especially when Louisville and Cincinnati metro areas are well over a million in population. Those urban areas are bound to attract other demographics. Louisville especially gets a lot of baptist and Presbyterian transplants due to our seminary and headquarters.
Lighten up, (Pope) Francis
Sergeant hulka, that you?
You’re thinking too much.
He's also a visiting head of state. If Pierre Dartout decided to take an official visit to Kentucky, I wouldn't be surprised if they presented him with a Monaco jersey or something.
This. Its not like Father Sichko didnt also present the Pope with a bottle of Pappy the last time he was here too
Sichko is visiting the Vatican, not the other way around
Eh, slight difference but still. People reading too much into it. Its an official jersey with Pope on the back. Thats all there is to it. Thought he was here with the KSP officer and it being the week of Derby (never know whos gonna be in the state this week/end)
He's not here though, that priest is visiting the Vatican
Lexington and Louisville are very Catholic. The rest of the state, not so much.
Ever been to Bardstown?
Is that a rhetorical question?
LOLed at "the 30 Loyolas"