The Pope and the Witch
Encyclopedia
The Pope and the Witch is a satire play written by Dario Fo
in 1989. It depicts the Pope as a paranoid, drug-addled idiot and the Vatican as corrupt.
is an Italian actor and playwright who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1997. A communist, a satirist, he aims his sarcasm and slapstick comedy at authority, and in The Pope and the Witch he takes dead aim at the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church.
The witch, in nun's habit, turns up as an aide to the doctor summoned to treat the pope, and before long the Holy Father is seized with a paralytic affliction that, among other names, is known as a crucifixion stroke, leaving him with his arms outstretched.
took a rare step in collectively calling on University of Minnesota
President Robert Bruininks
to reconsider the university's plan to stage a controversial play that they viewed as anti-Catholic.
Archbishop Harry Flynn of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
, along with bishops from Crookston
to Winona
, wrote to Bruininks calling the play offensive to the state's 1.6 million Catholics. They urged Bruininks to rethink the staging of the play in March 2007.
Dennis McGrath, spokesman for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said that he couldn't recall a time when the state's bishops had made such a combined request. The University has indicated that it has no plans to stop the play from being performed.
Dario Fo
Dario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
in 1989. It depicts the Pope as a paranoid, drug-addled idiot and the Vatican as corrupt.
The author
Dario FoDario Fo
Dario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
is an Italian actor and playwright who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1997. A communist, a satirist, he aims his sarcasm and slapstick comedy at authority, and in The Pope and the Witch he takes dead aim at the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church.
The plot
At the outset, the nameless pope, with 100,000 orphans waiting in St. Peter's Square and the world's press assembled for a news conference in the Vatican, is in the throes of paranoia, believing that the appearance of the children is sponsored by manufacturers of condoms in a plot to embarrass the Church.The witch, in nun's habit, turns up as an aide to the doctor summoned to treat the pope, and before long the Holy Father is seized with a paralytic affliction that, among other names, is known as a crucifixion stroke, leaving him with his arms outstretched.
Catholic reaction
In October 2006, top Catholic leaders in the state of MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
took a rare step in collectively calling on University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
President Robert Bruininks
Robert Bruininks
Robert H. Bruininks is the former President of the University of Minnesota. He was named president on November 8, 2002 after briefly serving as the interim president. He has been employed by the University of Minnesota since 1968. He is the 15th full time president in the history of the...
to reconsider the university's plan to stage a controversial play that they viewed as anti-Catholic.
Archbishop Harry Flynn of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by the prelature of an archbishop which administers the archdiocese from the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis...
, along with bishops from Crookston
Roman Catholic Diocese of Crookston
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Crookston is a Roman Catholic diocese in Minnesota. It was founded on December 31, 1909. It covers the northwest section of Minnesota.The bishops of the diocese are:*Timothy J...
to Winona
Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona
The Diocese of Winona is the Roman Catholic diocese which ministers to the people of southern Minnesota. The diocese includes Blue Earth, Cottonwood, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Jackson, Martin, Mower, Murray, Nobles, Olmsted, Pipestone, Rock, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, Watonowan,...
, wrote to Bruininks calling the play offensive to the state's 1.6 million Catholics. They urged Bruininks to rethink the staging of the play in March 2007.
Dennis McGrath, spokesman for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said that he couldn't recall a time when the state's bishops had made such a combined request. The University has indicated that it has no plans to stop the play from being performed.