While IÂ’ve condemned Viacom/MTV for running this series, I emphatically reject any attempt to ban the series through coercive means.

German Catholic leaders launched legal steps on Tuesday to prevent youth music channel MTV from broadcasting a controversial cartoon series which depicts the Pope as a pogo-stick-riding maniac.

Outraged bishops from Pope Benedict XVI's home state of Bavaria filed a legal injunction against the broadcaster, which plans to show the first episode of the satirical series "Popetown" on Wednesday evening.

The injunction says "Popetown" -- which was dropped in Britain after a wave of protest -- is insulting to Catholics since it shows the Pope bouncing through St. Peter's in Rome on a cross-like pogo stick and satirizes religious ceremonies.

"In this way the Catholic faith and the Catholic church are exposed to ridicule, which is justified neither by the freedom of opinion, of art, of the press nor of broadcasting," the archdiocese of Munich and Freising said in a statement.

The youth music channel said it plans to show one episode and will then gauge viewers' appetite for more.

"We will initially broadcast this first episode and then will make a decision based on the feedback of the viewers," said Mats Wappmann, a spokesman for MTV in Berlin.

The bishops also attacked the television channel for an advertising campaign which showed Jesus apparently getting down from the cross to sit in an armchair and watch the program.

The advert's tagline read: Have a laugh instead of hanging around.

Christianity has survived much worse hits than this and survived quite nicely. Given that it is based on divine truth and not Satanic falsehood, the Church will not be harmed by this trash. Allow free will to be exercised by the German people, and allow the free market to take its toll on the despicable folks who decided to run the series.

Oh, and by the way – quit acting like a bunch of Muslims.

Posted by: Greg at 11:50 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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