PONTIFF, PRETTY PONTIFF, CAN ANYONE KISS YOUR HAND

Once again - also in a bid to try and shore up the Italy event - Bob Geldof has taken to flattering the Vatican:

In Rome to promote the Italian stage of the international Live 8 concert on July 2, Geldof said he had written to the Pope about his campaign but had only received a photograph of the Pontiff in return.

"I don't want a picture, I want him to come to Edinburgh," Geldof told a news conference. "Benedict has great theologies. For many years he has been singing the songs of the poor. I want him to come and sing with us in Edinburgh."

We love the idea of the Pope sending Geldof back a signed photo - and, probably, a steneographed letter thanking him for his interest - but, again, we're a little surprised that Bob is so keen to get some famous faces on the stage with him that he's not really that bothered about what they preach - the "great theologies" are about restriciting right to choose; not using condoms and, of course, a belief that gays are, in the Pope's words, “intrinsically disordered” and homosexuality is a “tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil.”

Does Geldof really think it's appropriate to be pleading with a bloke with such awful opinions to be a high-profile part of a human rights positive movement? Will it be Kissinger next?

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