An easy target” “

It was the BBC itself, some time ago, that announced to the British public, in a press release, that it was planning an animated cartoon called “Popetown”, in which the Catholic cardinals are “sinister, corrupt and mysteriously rich” and the Pope is “an old man” whose “every whim is satisfied”. The BBC, known in the past for its excellent religious programmes, was strongly criticized in recent weeks by the Archbishop of Glasgow Mario Conti, who accused it of superficial and scandal-mongering journalism. The announcement of the cartoon has also provoked protests from several thousand television viewers and the harsh criticism of the commentator Clifford Longley , a regular guest on BBC radio programmes. We met him. Mr. Longley, what’s the situation now? “As far as I know, the BBC still has the intention of broadcasting this programme. But according to some press leaks, its name and contents will be less sarcastic”. Why is there this lack of respect? “Because the Catholic Church is perceived as ‘fair game’, a legitimate target, in other words as a large and self-confident organization and hence a suitable object for satire and ridicule. The managers of the BBC who promote animated cartoons like ‘Popetown’ are atheists who attack in the Catholic Church everything they do not like in Christianity. They still think of the Papacy in terms of the nineteenth century, as a conservative power, and culpably ignore the fact that the Pope is in the front line for the promotion of human rights. These are obsolete post-Enlightenment prejudices that recall a Protestant attitude to Catholics in the distant past”. Isn’t it unusual for a public television corporation to mount so vulgar an attack? “I think that the BBC has shown real cowardice in attacking the Catholic Church in this way. The state broadcaster is convinced it will receive wide support from society. In the climate of the “politically correct” in which we now live it’s difficult for the BBC to criticise Muslims and Jews, but it’s easy to attack the Catholic Church. It should also be added that the Catholic Church, in contrast to Jews and Muslims, tends not to react to these criticisms”. Why doesn’t the Catholic Church react? “There’s a history of Catholic persecution in this country. Catholics were a persecuted minority until 1850 and therefore don’t feel themselves protected by the politically correct in the same ways as Jews and Muslims”. Do you think that the BBC has an anti-Catholic agenda? “No, I think that some parts of the BBC conduct themselves properly in their attitude to the Catholic Church, but I think that with this series of animated cartoons the BBC is committing an error of judgement unacceptable for so important an organization, and, what’s more, it’s an aberration that conflicts with the very nature of the BBC that is usually impartial. I hope that common sense will prevail. Nonetheless, the fact that the Director General of the BBC, Mark Byford, is Catholic complicates things. It may be difficult for Byford to accept the protests of Catholics since his independence of judgement might then be placed in doubt. It will also be important to follow the reactions of the other Christian Churches”.