posted by
David Gibson
|
9:25am Wednesday April 9, 2008
The pope is very green–as in eco-minded–but his zucchetto, or skullcap, has to be white. That’s one lesson the Washington metro authority learned, the hard way, when it had to yank a YouTube promo video encouraging people to take the Metro to Nationals Stadium to see the papal mass next week. The video featured a popular Bobblehead doll of the pope riding o the subway (as we call it in NYC). According to the Washington Post, the archdiocese of Washington wasn’t happy that “Our concern is that this was a bad bobblehead,” said Susan Gibbs, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington told the Post. “You had unauthorized merchandise, and you had a misdressed pope.” The bobblehead in the Metro video wears a red skull cap and a red cape. “Popes don’t wear red skull caps,” and they don’t wear red capes, only white ones.My favorite part is that the bobblehead rides the train next to a man reading “Car and Pontiff” magazine. The mock-up of the magazine was also done by Metro media relations. In the video (which has unfortunately been yanked from YouTube) the man reading “Car and Pontiff” turns to the bobblehead and asks in Latin, “Car in shop?” Then he flips to the last page, which shows an ad about taking Metro to the Mass. “Thank Heaven for Metro,” the man intones, according to the Post piece. Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said “this was all part of our tongue-in-cheek attempt at humor,” but the trasit folks voluntarily pulled the ad. The Washington archdiocese has done great work leading up to the visit, both in getting news out to the media and in arranging fun and tasteful contests and promos to generate excitement in the church. It’s a huge undertaking. But I think they could have given the Bobblehead ad a pass. All for a good cause, you know. UPDATE: The YouTube video lives! Watch it. After viewing it, I’m even more confused as to the problem. It’s actually a very sensible public service ad. IMHO.
Archbishop Chaput weighs in against "Obama Catholics"--and for...? Denver's Archbishop Charles Chaput combines an intellectual's depth with the doughty persona of a politicker, which is what he used to be--he worked for the RFK campaign and later, even as a priest, was a campaign volunteer for Jimmy Carter. Some say he's still a political operative, though for the
The Hagee-Donohue ticket: "Liberals' worst nightmare" The elaborate courtship of Texas televangelist John Hagee--who is covering McCain's evangelical flank--and the Catholic League's Bill Donohue, who accused Hagee of anti-Catholicism for his "Great Whore" sermonizing and other standard anti-papist barbs, always seemed to hold about as much suspense as
An olive branch to divorced-and-remarried Catholics? An item in the current edition of The Tablet of London hints at a possible opening for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion--even though many do, obviously, their ban from the altar under church law remains one of the sorest pastoral points in the US church. It is also a sore point
The key to Benedict... It is summed up in a response recounted by Father Jim Martin, a Jesuit and author who posts (and edits) at America magazine's blog. Father Martin has a post on "Three Unreported Papal Stories" from last month's visit. The third is the payoff:
Third: Another priest friend serving as a secretary to on
Guerilla tactics and the "Communion Wars"...Doug Kmiec is denied communion for backing Obama It seems that the former Reagan adviser and Catholic conservative legal scholar from Pepperdine, Doug Kmiec--heretofore a man with impeccable judicial and pro-life credentials--has been barred from communion for his support for Barack Obama. In a posting yesterday, Kmiec did not give details, but wr
When I was answering media calls about Pope JPII ‘s visit to San Francisco in 1987 I got a lot of silly questions. But when a BBC caller with an upper British accent called in I perked up ready for an insightful question.
She asked ‘what kind of papal paraphernalia is availabe in San Francisco?” I said ‘you mean schlock? Try Miami he lands there first..”
Let haters be haters, n let people of God do what they love to do. For they n myself loves God n regardless of what haters do/say, we will and always will proclaim the goodness of God and his love 2 all mankinds. And 2 all who r against the Pope and all the great leaders we have,jus know that God loves you. May you have peace in your hearts and minds!God bless!!!!
David Gibson is an award-winning religion writer who specializes in writing about the Catholic Church, which he joined as a convert at the age of 30. He is the author The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World. He also wrote The Coming Catholic Church: How the Faithful are Shaping a New American Catholicism. He has written about Catholicism for leading newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, New York magazine, Boston magazine, Fortune, Commonweal, and America. Gibson worked in Rome for Vatican Radio for several years and traveled frequently with Pope John Paul II. He later covered religion for The Star-Ledger of New Jersey. He has co-written several recent documentaries on Christianity for CNN. For further information check out his website at dgibson.com.
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posted April 9, 2008 at 4:24 pm
When I was answering media calls about Pope JPII ‘s visit to San Francisco in 1987 I got a lot of silly questions. But when a BBC caller with an upper British accent called in I perked up ready for an insightful question.
She asked ‘what kind of papal paraphernalia is availabe in San Francisco?” I said ‘you mean schlock? Try Miami he lands there first..”
posted April 10, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I’ve been looking for a Pope vibrator for some time. Where can I buy it?
posted April 10, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Let haters be haters, n let people of God do what they love to do. For they n myself loves God n regardless of what haters do/say, we will and always will proclaim the goodness of God and his love 2 all mankinds. And 2 all who r against the Pope and all the great leaders we have,jus know that God loves you. May you have peace in your hearts and minds!God bless!!!!
posted April 11, 2008 at 9:55 pm
All GOOD Roman Catholics should purchase a bobblehead and light a candle, just in case B16 is given sainthood by his admirers.