Mick Hartley

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, writes to the Times:

Sir, I was appalled at the tasteless cartoon depicting Pope Benedict XVI. No newspaper should show such disrespect to a person who is held in high esteem by a large proportion of Christians in the world. To pillory the Pope in this way is totally unacceptable.

Let's have a look at the cartoon, shall we? So we can judge for ourselves:

One of Peter Brookes' better efforts, I'd say.

I wonder where the Archbish got the idea that, in a free society, the fear of giving offence was sufficient reason for refusing to publish something like a cartoon.