How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
Doom. That's the favorite word of every priest in Limerick. (14.17)
In case you didn't get the idea. That's what religion means to Frank. But despite the devil wanting his soul, he can't keep his hands off himself.
Quote #11
Theresa is a torment to me. […] every time I pass the graveyard I feel the sin growing in me like an abscess and if I don't go to confession soon I'll be nothing but an abscess riding around on bicycle with people pointing and telling each other, there he is, Frankie McCourt, the dirty thing that sent Theresa Carmody to hell. (16.39)
At this point, Frank still believes that going to confession would help him deal with his guilt about Theresa, but he's afraid that the priest will throw him out. He figures he'll have to wait until he gets to America, where the priests are friendly like Bing Crosby in the movie Going My Way.
Quote #12
He tells me God forgives me and I must forgive myself, that God loves me and I must love myself for only when you love God in yourself can you love all God's creatures. (17.69)
Frank finally can't take the guilt any longer and breaks down in tears in a Franciscan church. A priest hears him and offers to talk. Frank spills his life story. This passage jumps out at us because of how different it is when compared to the other passages on religion. This priest is nothing like most of the other priests we've encountered in Angela's Ashes. He's kind, compassionate, and most of all understanding. He gets that love and forgiveness are more powerful that guilt and blame.