The Vatican does not appreciate satire

Satirists on Italian television are not appreciated by the Vatican. Georg Gänswein, one of Pope Benedict XVI's advisers, expressed this in the Catholic daily 'Avvenire', thus provoking a polemic in the peninsula. The editorialist Francesco Merlo responds, considering that we have the right laugh about anything. "Nobody is beyond the reach of Satire, and no doubt God either, who is an object of satire 'par excellence', because he offers so much material, the infinite perfection of Man, for example. The idea of exorcising satirists from television with holy water seems more like a gag than a threat ... . Satire has no boundaries, the entire world is one big pretext for satire ... . Let it be added that it is easy to satirise the Pope. Everyone has their weak spots, even the best, even the infallible, we are all vulnerable ... . The danger only ever comes from those who know not how to laugh."

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