Pope Rooney

By Todd Stadler · Thursday, March 3, 2005 6:37pm

I don't know why I never noticed this before, but when I was reading an article about the pope today, I looked at a picture of him and thought, "By golly, that's Andy Rooney!"

This, of course, goes a long way towards explaining the Pope's recent encyclicals which, usually written in formal Latin, have of late been written in a rambling English voice that some have described as "whiny".

In particular, many thought peculiar the encyclical "What's up with the movies", which contains the following passage:

You ever notice how the movies are showing more and more violence and sex than before? Whatever happened to the days when people could view entertainment that didn't embrace a culture of death, or glorify adultery? I call on Catholics worldwide to embrace a new culture, such as found in more wholesome fare like National Velvet. Do you remember that movie? No breasts jiggling, nobody getting dismembered, just a simple story about a girl and a horse. I guess things have changed since then.

It goes without saying that I've never seen the pope and Andy Rooney in the same room together.