@bkcunningham It’s a good question – don’t be afraid to be the one to ask it. Personally, I’m interested for several reasons. First, as a former religious person myself, I am still fascinated by the many sects of Christianity and how they differ from each other, and how different people take parts of their own religion to adhere to strictly while basically ignoring others. In short, I’m interested in most of the Christian faiths, period.
Also, I’ve read a lot of books, fiction and non-fiction about Catholicism. From Clavell’s Shogun to Karen Armstrong’s memoirs. This event is effectively a continuation of those stories for me.
I have a close relative who converted to Catholicism. This is going to come up in conversation.
I have gay friends. They (and I by extension) care about how the Catholic church evolves on the issue of gay marriage and homosexuality in general. Not because any of us is Catholic, and not because gay marriage is illegal in their region, but because if Catholics become more tolerant of homosexuality, it means that there is a huge population of people who will shift their views with it. Not all at once, but it would have to happen. It would be a huge step forward.