[IW] Patton-2

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

What is the status of space flight on Patton-1 in 1978? Who has it and who has done what with it?

Thank you for asking!

As mentioned, the space race began later, and it's between the USA and China. What with the belated end of active warring, the initial focus on high-altitude bombers as weapon platforms, and the fact that for most of the 1950s there was no other power able to send things in space, the USA took to that challenge much more slowly. Things changed in 1965, when the Chinese placed their first satellite in orbit. As of now, both space agencies brought manned vehicles in orbit, and landed unmanned probes on the Moon. The next big step will be a manned lunar mission, and the USA are poised to launch it next year. It's unclear whether the Chinese are trying to beat them to the punch.
The British focused on less glamorous but still essential orbital satellites, and the Brazilians are only now following suit. A joint French-German effort is in the making.
Note that some Infinity analysts think the overall technological progress on Patton-2 is behind that of Homeline in the same year exactly because of this delay in the space race.

What is the status of Catholicism vs. Protestantism in the Western nations?

The main factor affecting religions and churches on Patton-2 is that the regimes that persecuted them on Homeline are in power only in small marginal areas (Siberia and Sinkiang). Therefore, the Catholic Church is literally thriving, in comparison, in places like Poland, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Cuba, China, Korea, Vietnam. It is also much more influential in countries where Communism was not in power, but a Communist-influenced rationalist school of thought opposed the Catholic Church: Italy, France, Mexico, for instance. The same is true, of course, for the Orthodox Churches of Eastern Europe, which have even more social and political weight in their countries: Russia, Romania, Bulgaria.
The Catholic authorities are swift to discipline priests who come under suspicion of having Communist inclinations. This happens, especially in South America. Brazilian priests (and even a few bishops) only have to worry about their own hierarchy; in other countries, death squadrons and paramilitary organizations occasionally target such priests. The life of the bishop of San Salvador is known to be in danger, for instance.

In the USA, the Catholics are slightly less influential, and the Protestants - if we look at the the more conservative, well-established and "respectable" denominations - slightly more so. Being a WASP, including the P, still is key to being an important person. There are slightly fewer Catholics overall, too, because there's less immigration from South America. In particular, visitors from Homeline would ask, in Miami: "where are all the Cubans?".
Militant Protestant Churches from the USA are enthusiastically proselytizing abroad, especially in the Philippines, China, and a few central African countries. Some say they are supported by the US government.
The so-called "Black Churches", for instance many Baptist Churches, are in a different and more difficult situation. Arson is a common solution when a local church becomes the meeting point of "uppity" African-Americans. In recent years, several pastors who were gaining popular support in their communities had their reputations tarnished by allegations of embezzlement or sexual scandals. Their supporters claim they were framed up.

In the BCE, all forms of proselytism, by anyone, are unofficially discouraged. The British authorities already find it difficult to keep the lid down on multiple other issues (especially in Western India and Malaya), so they don't need that additional headache.