Comedy Central Comic: 'The Pope F***ed Boys'

Comedy Central just can't stop attacking Christianity.

On June 16, comedian Louis C.K. appeared on the network's popular "fake news" program, "The Daily Show," where he launched into an attack on the pope over the sexual abuse scandal plaguing the church.

"I was going to say that the pope f***ed boys and I didn't have time," C.K. blurted out as host Jon Stewart started wrapping up the interview. "I do think he does. Can I defend that before we go away?"

Stewart attempted to minimize the unprovoked attack saying, "I don't think that that's true, although, they bleeped it. I don't think that that's true."

But C.K. persisted. "Well here's the thing, he lets other people do it," he said of the pope. "And I guess my feeling is this: there's only two kinds of people. There's people who are horrified and reviled by child touching with penises, and then there's people who can't stop having sex with children. There's no in-between. There's nobody like, ‘I don't do it, but I get it.'"

The comic suggested the Pope Benedict XVI was complicit, if not an active participant, in sexual abuse of boys in the church. He didn't mention that Benedict has spent much of the year meeting with victims, apologizing for church leaders' sins, and pledging to fix the problems that made such abuse possible. Or that Benedict himself, as Cardinal Ratzinger, was instrumental in improving how the church addressed abuse allegations.

"We, too, insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again," Benedict said in a June 11 homily.

C.K. was on "The Daily Show" to promote his new show on the FX network, which is known for "edgy" storylines and frequent use of vulgar language in shows such as "Rescue Me" and "Sons of Anarchy."

The "jokes" were the latest in a long line of attacks on Christians aired by Comedy Central. The assault continued even after the network refused to allow its popular "South Park" show to criticize, or even mention, the Muslim prophet Muhammad. The most recent attack before C.K.'s came on June 11, when in a stand-up special comedian Paul F. Tompkins called Catholicism "crazy junk" and "ridiculous."

Like this article? Sign up for "Culture Links," CMI's weekly e-mail newsletter, by clicking here.