Any advice on coming out to my parents?

[abaris]

My mother is very protective, and once she even told me that "all I want is for you to grow up to be a good christian". I think that statement is utterly ridiculous, but that is neither here nor there. My father is quite the intellectual but his catholic upbringing renders him clinging to his childhood faith.

That's pretty much the same family setup I grew up with. My mother, as far as I know, was more devout than my father, who was a tachnician and very interested in science. It's hard to give any advice, since we never had that talk. In my family we never really talked about religion and there was no pressure once I decided to rather sleep in on sundays than to go to church. Might have helped that my brother is 15 years my senior and partied through the Roaring 60ies.

So, the only cautious advice I would give you, is to start with your father, since by your description, he seems to be the more open minded. If you really feel the need to have that discussion. I can't be the judge of that, since, as I said, there was no religious pressure in my youth and I never felt the need to have a debate.