New Zealand Bishops Lose Appeal In Offensive "South Park" Case

In New Zealand, the High Court at Wellington has rejected an appeal by the Catholic Bishops' Conference challenging a controversial episode of the television show South Park shown by CanWest TV last February. The show, mainly about an alcoholic's struggle to stay sober, contained one scene-- the so-called "Bloody Mary" episode-- showing the Pope being squirted with menstrual blood from a statue of the Virgin Mary. (See prior posting.) Reporting on the decision, last week's New Zealand Herald said CanWest lawyers had defended the broadcast of free speech grounds. The Church, which argued that the program infringed good taste, decency and fairness, said that the court's opinion failed to consider the episode's denigration of women. The court also indicated that it would award $8000 in costs to CanWest.