Pope Benedict Blesses A Male Stripper’s Parrot

You know this sort of story instantaneously freaks out the Catholic Church’s ultraconservative wing. But Pope Benedict has been showing by example that the largest Christian sect in the world opens its doors to everyone:

Pope Francis has dined with homeless people, made the cover of Time and Rolling Stone and now has blessed a parrot belonging to a male stripper.

The parrot, named Amore, was initially passed up by Pope Francis as he rode around in the popemobile during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square Wednesday. Eventually, Francis went back to bless the bird and hold it on his finger.

The bird’s owner was identified as Francesco Lombardi, and according to ANSA, he’s a former male stripper turned erotic film actor. “It was fun,” Lombardi told ANSA after meeting the pope. “A sort of mixing of the holy and the profane.”

Lombardi said Amore parroted back “Papa,” which the crowd was chanting at Pope Francis. Lombardi, who has also been the head of the town council of Trezzano, near Milan, told ANSA that he attended the pope’s general audience with his wife and two daughters.

By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.