Cartoon on ‘Bad Popes’ Not Good!

by Letters Editor · April 14, 2018

Liz Blunden Gunter, George – I would respectfully like to suggest that the Conrad cartoon (and also the Church Chuckle) on your back page be more carefully screened/monitored.

The Conrad cartoon (March 14) was a “joke” about bad popes.

A sweetly naïve, cute comment — “I bet it’s easier to be a saint if you’re a pope!” — is met with a cynical, singularly unfunny retort — “I don’t know about that! Have you ever read the history of the popes?”

Most of our popes have been good, often saintly, men. Why bring up and remind us of the shamefulness and decadence of a few past popes?

Forced to Explain

My nine-year-old grandson didn’t “get” the joke (why would he?) and I was forced to explain as best I could — trying not to go into any specific details.

If this has piqued his interest, I am very aware of the fact that Google can tell him horrific stories about popes of the dim and distant past. He is far too young to remain unaffected and shocked if he did go and google “bad popes”.

Also, there have been several times that I have considered the back-page jokes to be slightly “off” (in my opinion of course), so please try to make them innocent, funny and suitable for all.

Having said that, we love The Southern Cross. It is read from cover to cover, and I never miss doing the crossword!