Religious affiliations of Sue and Johnny Storm

[Fantasyartist]

In a recent website I read that the Invisible Woman and her brother were Protestant( the site dealt with the likely religious affilaiations of comic book characters), but in that case why did I read in a FF story where Sue tells her son Franklin that she lights a candle at St. Patrick's Cathedral( presumably the RC one on Sixth Avenue)- after all what's the point of lighting a candle at St Patrick's if you aren't a Catholic?

Terry

 

[Ravin' Ray]

Hey, I've seen that website too; in fact I bookmarked it. Doesn't it say that Ben is Jewish? Now, I'm RC, but not Irish (though I have an Irish brother-in-law); maybe Sue and Johnny have Irish ancestors (like another brother-in-law), and it's just a tradition or custom that their family hung onto even if they're not RC.

 

[Malus]

Ben Grimm is Jewish. That's canon.
Sue and Johnny, I'm not so sure. I don't think lighting a candle in a Catholic cathedral doesn't make one Catholic. I've seen plenty of Christians without official affiliations (including myself) gravitate to a Catholic church or chapel either in times of worry or for midnight mass at Christmas.
But maybe they are...Maybe we'll find out at some point.

Fantasyartist, do you recall what issue Sue makes that statement to Franklin? I'd like to check it out.

Very interesting topic. I'd be particularly curious about Reed's beliefs, especially after the recent MJS story where he got to be present at the Big Bang...however inappropriate that sequence may have been.
It wouldn't surprise me if Reed was the biggest believer of all of them.

 

[Fantasyartist]

I'm not certain which story it appeared(possibly in Ultimate FF). Franklin was compiling a school report asking what their families did over Christmas. Apropos of Sue and Johnny's ethnicity, I think they are most like of Dutch as opposed (at least on their father's side of the family) to Irish descent(I'm not certain about their mother Mary-a name highly suggestive of Catholic background). There was also a What If story in which Sue(in an alternate reality) becomes a nun-and you can't get more Catholic than becoming a nun!

 

[Fantasyartist]

PS. They say that nobody takes their faith quite as seriously as Dutch Catholics-not even the Irish or Poles!
By the way there are other Marvel heroes of Dutch background-pace Janet Van Dyne (AKA The Wasp although she's most likely Protestant)

 

[MichaelRGrimm]

Very interesting topic. I'd be particularly curious about Reed's beliefs, especially after the recent MJS story where he got to be present at the Big Bang...however inappropriate that sequence may have been.
It wouldn't surprise me if Reed was the biggest believer of all of them.

There was a story that broached this subject. I do not recall what issue anymore. Sorry. The gist of the story dealt with a conversation Reed had with Franklin on religious beliefs. It was not mentioned what denomination Reed belonged to only that he did believe in God, a one, true higher power, despite the fact he was a man of science. It was a very good, poignant tale. One of the better pieces of Reed/Franklin interaction I have been fortunate enough to enjoy.

 

[Fantasyartist]

I suppose Reed's precise religious affiliations( possibly generic Protestantism-much like Spider-Man or Captain America- although I am suspicious of Tony Stark(Iron Man's) as his mother was named Maria-a nme highly redolent of Italian if not Hispanic background) are less interesting than the fact that he believes in God in the first place.
Although in the closing scene of Fantastic Four Annual#3(1965) he isseen marrying Sue in the presence of a priest who looks suspiciously like a Catholic clergyman( making them Marvel's first "mixed marriage" at least religiously.
Oh, does anybody know Alicia Masters( the Thing's former girlfriend)'s religious affiliations?

Terry