AUCKLAND, NZ – The New Zealand Catholic Bishops have urged Catholics in the country to boycott all CanWest Global media properties.
It seems that the New Zealand Catholic Church is mightily offended by the cartoon “Popetown”, which is airing on CanWest-owned channel C4. The TV show lampoons Catholics and the Pope specifically.
In their letter to parishes throughout New Zealand, the bishops point out that the show ridicules the Pope by “depicting him as a cretinous, dirty, spoiled brat, and the curial cardinals as venal and dishonest,” it says. “It also implies a predilection on the part of one Vatican-based priest for exotic animals in a way that suggests moral degeneration of an appalling kind.”
The Church’s bishops wrote to all parishes in the country, recommending to Catholics that they make their displeasure known to CanWest, says a press release. Two weeks ago, the Church wrote to the Canadian-owned company (which also runs Global Television, Prime TV and the National Post, among other assets) complaining about Popetown and CanWest responded by saying that they do not think the show is offensive, says the release.
“While the bishops found the first episode to be offensive, they nonetheless took the view that its overall poverty of humour and its patent silliness made it, in effect, a non-event,” adds the release.
They have since told CanWest that succeeding episodes of Popetown have degenerated into what they say is gratuitous offence and insult to the Catholic Church and the Catholic people of New Zealand. They said that there is a fine line between what is simply offensive and what is intolerable and that in their view Popetown has now crossed that line, they say.
CanWest told the Church that the series is not offensive or intolerable to a significant portion of the population and they will continue to screen it.
The bishops’ letter also points out that it’s crass to air such a show so close to the recent death of Pope John Paul II and that the BBC, which produced the show, has so far decided not to air it. “(The BBC) considered it had crossed the line between what was humour, and was offensive. They decided that it was not acceptable television viewing,” according to the Church.
The bishops have suggested followers contact CanWest to register their disapproval and consider boycotting CanWest’s TV channels – C4 and TV3, as well as their 22-station radio network, which includes the popular RadioLive – and withdrawing support from those who advertise with them.
– Greg O’Brien
