Italy to air pogoing Pope cartoon shelved by BBC

[emad]

Independent on Sunday
By Peter Popham in Rome
30 January 2005


A cartoon sitcom set in the Vatican and featuring a manic Pope bouncing around on a pogo stick and a back-stabbing cardinal is to be broadcast in Italy after it was cancelled by the BBC.

Popetown is a knockabout comedy that "looks at the daily nuisances that exist in any workplace", according to a BBC press release - the workplace being the Vatican. But after the show was publicised in November 2002, more than 6,000 British Catholics demanded it be scrapped.

Clifford Longley, a Catholic commentator, accused the BBC of trying to incite ill-feeling towards Britain's six million Catholics. He said: "If you insult the leadership of the Catholic Church like this, you insult all Catholics ... and you hold them up for public hatred, ridicule and contempt."

The BBC caved into the protests and pulled the show before it was screened, but was determined to recoup some of its multimillion-pound losses from shelving the show by marketing it around the world. Now an Italian satellite channel, CanalJimmy, is to give Italians, 90 per cent of whom are Catholic, the benefit of the 10-part series this spring.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=605997

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

1. Since I'm Italian

by birth and citizenship, I am F&*#ing tired of the media stating as a fact that 90% of Italians are Catholic. I'm sure some describe themselves as Catholic just to be "in line" with the perceived notions, culture, tradition or whatever.

But Italian society is far from being Catholic in attitude. In fact, it is far more liberal than in many parts of the U.S. where I've lived.

[Massachusetts]

2. Say again?

"If you insult the leadership of the Catholic Church like this, you insult all Catholics ... and you hold them up for public hatred, ridicule and contempt."


The Catholic leadership has insulted more Catholics (I'm one), in these past few years (and through its history), than I care to remember.:evilgrin: O8) :evilfrown:

[arwalden]

3. Oh Brrrother!!

"If you insult the leadership of the Catholic Church like this, you insult all Catholics ... "

Yes Mr. Longley... that's EXACTLY what it means :eyes: ... because we all know that an attack on one is an attack on ALL... if someone ridicules the Pope, then they are ridiculing ALL Catholics for simply BEING catholic, right? :eyes: The two things are inseparable, right? :shrug: