The possible discovery of the so-called Higgs Boson particle, whose theoretical existence has been proposed for some time, has also heralded some jokes around the theme of the particle being catholic! The jokes all hinge around the scientific theory that the Higgs Boson particle/field gives mass to matter throughout the universe. Without the Higgs Boson particle it is difficult to explain inertial mass in a scientific sense.
A Higgs Boson particle walks into a catholic church. A priest walks over to it and says "Hey, you're not allowed in here!" to which the particle replies, "BUT WITHOUT ME, HOW CAN YOU HAVE MASS?!!"
I know it is not a great joke but it amuses me!
More seriously Fr Andrew Pinsent, a catholic priest and former particle physicist at CERN, talks about the Higgs Boson and more generally about science and the catholic church.
Here is a page with the recording of the interview: here
Finally apparently the reason why people call it the "God particle" has nothing to do with the theory explaining away God, but a publisher who named a popular book after a physicist who apparently said that if the Higgs Boson could be found it would be a great gift from God.
IH
