Is it OK to poke fun at Pope? Italians ask

From Reuters:

ROME (Reuters) - Forget the bloated deficit, forget the fact that Italy's national airlines and train network may go bust; the hottest debate in the country now is whether it is politically correct to make the Pope the butt of comic satire.

That was the question on most front pages of Italy's newspapers on Wednesday after the Roman Catholic officials reacted to a spate of Italian television and radio programmes poking fun at Pope Benedict.

"The Vatican doesn't like satire," headlined Rome's La Repubblica.

L'Unita, the newspaper of the largest party in the centre-left government, even put its banner headline -- "The Vatican Can't Take a Joke" -- above its story about the state railway system being "on the brink of bankruptcy".

In one TV programme, comedian Maurizio Crozza, dressed in white papal robes, imitates Benedict's distinct German accent as he sits behind a desk flanked by two Swiss Guards in ceremonial blue, red and yellow uniform.

Crozza does a satirical play on two identical sounding words -- Pax (peace) and PACS, the acronym for a controversial law that would give unwed heterosexual couples and gay couples in Italy equal civil rights. He says "pax (or PACS) be with you".

The Pope and the Roman Catholic Church oppose introducing the PACS law.

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