LA Times on Catholic Laughter

Television jokes about the new pope generally have been lame, like this one from Jay Leno: "We have a new pope! Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany is now the most powerful Catholic in the world. Well, second most powerful, if you count Mel Gibson." Much funnier was this crack attributed to Dennis Miller: "Whenever I see a German on a balcony with an adoring throng, I get nervous."But seriously, folks, the dearth of really witty Ratzinger/Benedict jokes ought to be a disappointment for Catholics who agree with G.K. Chesterton, that great convert to Rome, that "it is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it."

Writer Hilaire Belloc once wrote: "Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine / There's always laughter and good red wine."Or a stein of Bavarian beer.

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