“My mother was French Protestant, and my father was Italian Catholic, and their union was an excess of God, guilt and sauce.”

“To God I speak Spanish, to women Italian, to men French, and to my horse - German.”

“My mother was a good Catholic -- she went to mass twice a week at St. Mary's in Richmond, but my father was an Orthodox Eclectic.”

“Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good.”

“I think both Protestants and Catholics have killed the woman for the sake of the mother. (Rubem Alves, p. 201)”

“You were baptized?""My sister told me that yes, Father baptized me shortly after birth. My mother was a Protestant of a faith that deplored infant baptism, so they had a quarrel about it." The Bishop held out his hand to lift the Speaker to his feet. The Speaker chuckled. "Imagine. A closet Catholic and a lapsed Mormon, quarreling over religious procedures that they both claimed not to believe in.”