Britain Apologizes for Pope Jokes

[alp227]

Source: Associated Press

Filed at 9:09 a.m. ET

LONDON (AP) -- Britain's Foreign Office issued a hasty apology Sunday to Pope Benedict XVI after publication of an internal memo in which officials joked he could open an abortion clinic, launch a range of condoms or sing a duet with Queen Elizabeth II during a four-day visit in September.

The document, sections of which were published in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, also proposed the pope could bless a gay marriage, and acknowledge the clerical sex abuse scandal by establishing a hot line for abused children, or honoring abuse whistleblowers.

Junior officials wrote the memo following a brainstorming session intended to discuss ideas for the visit, the first to Britain by the head of the Roman Catholic Church since Pope John Paul II in 1982.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/25/world/AP-EU-Pope-Britain.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

[Turbineguy]

1. OK, write 500 times

I must not say: "The Pope can open an abortion clinic, launch a range of condoms or sing a duet with Queen Elizabeth II"

As one Teacher used to scream at me: "I'll turn your fingers blue!!!"

[Xipe Totec]

2. Et tu, Britain?

[Bette Noir]

3. Super-duper. So, now it's illegal to make fun of the Pope?

[anigbrowl]

4. Not illegal, but not appropriate for a government department

I'm no fan of the pope, but he is a head of state. That kind of humor belongs in the pub or on TV, not in government reports. Imagine if a state department staffer was making jokes about the leader of some country who was coming to visit the White House.

[Iowa]

8. Pfft... He's no "head of a state".

Christopher Hitchens disposed of this bogus defense quite handily in his Newsweek article a couple days ago:

"...the pope's lawyers have already signaled their intention to contest... by invoking 'sovereign immunity,' since His Holiness is also an alleged head of state. One wonders if sincere Catholics really desire to take refuge in this formulation. The so-called Vatican City, a political nonentity covering about 0.17 square miles of Rome, was created by Benito Mussolini in 1929 as part of his sweetheart deal between fascism and the papacy. It is the last survival of the political architecture of the Axis powers... Mentally remove his papal vestments and imagine him in a suit, and Joseph Ratzinger becomes just a Bavarian bureaucrat who has failed in the only task he was ever set -- that of damage control... "

He's right... Ratzinger is no more a "head of state" than we are.

[anigbrowl]

10. Sorry, but reality doesn't reflect this view

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_the_Holy_See#Bilateral_relations

Vatican City Stage|The Holy See is not a full-blown country, but is treated as one for all practical purposes, being a party to numerous international treaties, holding an observer seat in the UN general assembly and so on. Maybe it ought not to be, but that's how it is.

[swilton]

9. very stupid

They should not only appologize - they should fire a few for their negligence and incompetence.

[troubledamerican]

5. Apology is owed -- to the children

... from the Vatican

[Arugula Latte]

12. No kidding!

Everybody is just supposed to pretend that these vile Vatican mofos are to be respected, I guess. :eyes:

[Jefferson23]

6. ROFL, I love it! n/t

[mwooldri]

7. In other news, Pope on a Rope sales skyrocket... nt

[Arugula Latte]

11. Oh, please. These "religious" assholes rape children, but this is offensive?

Sick of the hypocrisy, sick of these extremist churches.

[BrklynLiberal]

13. No sense of humor in the Vatican, huh?

[Loudmxr]

14. But we're really not sorry for the Henry VIII thing.

[No Elephants]

15. The Vatican should apologize for that, too--to the descendants of the relatives of the wives

of Henry VIII whose murder the Vatican okayed.

And to all spouses against whom the Vatican granted fake annulments, and their families and respective descendants. Negating marriages to maintain the fiction that Catholics don't divorce. Feh.

[No Elephants]

16. No apology for Queen Elizabeth, though?