Young Irish Catholics wary of expressing their faith at home have found the World Youth Day festival to be a religious 'coming out', they tell Derek Scally in Cologne.
Edina Monsoon's immortal put-down to her mean-spirited, cardigan-clad daughter in television's Absolutely Fabulous was: "You may dress like a Christian, but the similarity ends there." At World Youth Day in Cologne, the similarity doesn't even begin. Over half a million young people from around the world have gathered in the German city on the Rhine to welcome Pope Benedict XVI on his first visit abroad - to his homeland - and to celebrate their shared Catholic faith.
But there are no cardigans and no sweaters with animal patterns at this week-long festival of faith. Instead there is a bit of everything, from full-body piercings and kilts to belly-tops and sombreros - but all in all, a perfectly normal-looking crowd of half a million or more. And among them, more than 2,000 young people from all over Ireland.
They know their faith sets them apart at home, but if rebelling means going against the way the societal wind is blowing, then these young people are today's rebels.
Many didn't know what to expect before coming to Cologne, admitting they were wary of public expressions of a faith they were used to keeping to themselves in Ireland.
But since arriving in Cologne, the Irish have come into their own, matching the Italians in volume and enthusiasm as they march about singing and flying the tricolour, being cheered by other groups. This is a religious coming-out.
"I feel I am myself here for the first time. It's such a relief to know you're not on your own," says Francine McAuley (25) from Portstewart in Co Derry.
"I keep quiet about my faith at home because I don't want people to think I'm a Holy Mary," says Imelda McGrath (25), from Newcastle in Galway, wearing a home-made "Pop(e) Idol" T-shirt. "It's been incredible to come to something like this where you can be more open than ever with others. You don't even have to talk to them, you just know everyone has something in common, a connection in the heart."
Aishling O'Rourke (17), from Johnstown, Killiney, Co Dublin, says: "Some people at home did go, 'What? You're spending 30 hours on a bus so you can go to Mass for a week?' But it's just so much fun."
Week-long Mass, Jesus Camp, Holy Joes, Holy Marys, the Irish pilgrims have heard it all from their peers, the ones who say they have no faith and yet get hot and bothered - threatened even - by the private beliefs of others.
All of the Irish pilgrims say their faith was passed onto them through the family and all have continued to attend Sunday Mass as their peers fell away. Rather than leave themselves, many got involved in the Mass - even just as a way of keeping themselves awake.
"Mass was so quiet in our parish, the church was practically empty. We thought: 'Why not get up and sing? We'll get more out of it.' And the Mass began to fill up," remembers Jessica Heavey (19), from Dublin.
DESPITE THEIR OBVIOUS enthusiasm for the Catholic church, their faith is a complicated matter. Reflective morning meetings during the week in Cologne have given them time for reflection and discussion with senior clerics.
The discussions have run the gamut from the gospels to the contraceptive pill, a kind of "Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Catholicism But Were Afraid To Ask".
Some of the Irish pilgrims say they would describe themselves as a la carte Catholics and don't take on board all of the church's teachings, particularly on homosexuality. None of them expect any drastic changes in church teaching for two or three decades, but many say it has been interesting to hear the reasoning for those teachings, often for the first time.
World Youth Day, the events actually span a week, began with a huge gathering in Cologne football stadium.
"It was like the World Cup final had come a year early," says Imelda McGrath. "Everyone was doing Mexican waves and no one was paying any attention to that man, I think he was the German president."
"It was like a concert with everyone cheering, just incredible," says Aishling O'Rourke.
Donal Cumiskey (18) interrupts: "But at a concert you have the Red Cross carrying people out with alcohol poisoning. Not here." The absence of alcohol is one contributor to the uniquely good-humoured atmosphere at World Youth Day, like a sober St Patrick's Day times 10. There is no shouting, no fighting, no vomiting; it's just one of many revelations to the Irish.
"I like to have a few pints as much as the rest, but Irish people think they always have to drink and you don't," says Jessica.
"I've just realised it's a week since I had my last drink!" shouts Conor Cronin (21), from Dublin.
"Why do we have the youth binge culture in drinking or whatever? Because young people are looking for something more," says Francine McAuley. "They're searching for something that society isn't giving them."
MANY OF THE Irish in Cologne say that their visit and their faith has given them a different perspective on developments in Ireland, from binge-drinking among young people to the prevailing, pervasive consumer culture.
"We all have wardrobes full of clothes, but here in Cologne there is some substance," says Ciara Fowler (23), from Portaferry in Co Down.
"They say religion is difficult in times of prosperity, but I really think people are getting disillusioned and realising that the old saying is true: 'you can't buy happiness'," says Donal Cumiskey.
Despite the positive vibes, the Irish pilgrims are critical of what they see as the lip-service church leaders pay to young people.
"What the church is failing to do is to reach out," says Lorcan Price (19), from Galway. "The church is bound by its teachings, but you can change the format without diluting the content. What you have in the church are people interpreting Christ's teaching for their time, that's all they can do, but even that changes - slowly - over time."
"We realise we can speak for ourselves. But maybe the big-wigs aren't listening," says Jessica Heavey.
Despite the apparent apathy among Irish people, most of the pilgrims are optimistic about the Irish Catholic church's chances in the future.
"I think the Catholic faith is still there. It's had its setbacks and now it's probably hit rock bottom, but it just needs something to trigger it again," says Heavey.
"The way to get young people interested in the church is to hold World Youth Day in Ireland," says Niall Byrne from Carrick-on-Suir. "Then they'd all see how incredible it is."
"Life-changing" is the way many of the Irish pilgrims talk about their trip to Cologne, meeting people from places they never expected Catholics to live.
"It's about understanding and it doesn't matter what you are or what country, we are here to show something in common," says Aishling O'Rourke. "I saw a group of young Iraqis and Americans dancing together on the street yesterday. In that moment their differences didn't matter."