“In an age in which everything possible is done to promote a world of racial and religious tolerance, programmes which, even if unintentionally, attack the icons of the greatest religious faiths, are deplorable and regrettable”. So declared Msgr. Crispian Hollis, Catholic bishop of Portsmouth, in England, in commenting on the BBC’s intention to transmit a documentary on Mary that presents a series of historical theories according to which Jesus was born as a result of a rape by a Roman soldier. Bishop Hollis intends to write to the director general of the BBC to request the suspension of the programme and to express the dismay of the Catholic community of England and Wales. “I think programmes of this type says the bishop of Portsmouth should respect the sensitivities of believers on issues such as this. The Virgin Mary is an immensely important person for the whole of Christian history”.
