MANY people see Saint Mary MacKillop in visions.
Where they do not expect to see her is in the pages of Zoo Weekly.
Not previously known for its strong ties with the Catholic Church, the men's mag decided to launch a "tribute" to Australia's first saint, sensitively titled: "St Mary Mac and her holy rack."
There are two possible motivations for Zoo's running of the six-page feature on a model wearing revealing lingerie and a nun's habit.
One is that they experienced some kind of conversion on the road to Damascus and now want to spread the word of the Gospel while at the same time expressing their love for skimpy underwear.
The other is that it's a cynical and cheap attempt to deliver free publicity for the magazine in other media.
Well that's never going to happen. Not in this column.
The magazine is also no doubt trying to rev up outrage among conservative sections of the community. What fools.
As the venerable Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney said: "The Zoo Weekly's Mary MacKillop spread is not only an insult to her legacy, but it is also demeaning to all Australian women."
Thank God they didn't take the bait. But what if they cancel their subscriptions?
The Archdiocese also added: "Zoo magazine would apparently prefer to objectify a woman rather than focus on her contribution to society."
I must admit that after careful consideration I, too, have come to this conclusion.
At least Zoo's shock objectification of the female form is redeemed by the skilful writing and sophisticated humour throughout the six-page spread.
This humour includes such pearls as: "She's begging for it ... so she can give it to the poor!"
Not since Carry On ... Up the Khyber has there been such clever and nuanced material in the public domain.
As for the pictures, though, I'm afraid I can't sanction such smut and unfortunately it's a sad indication of where we are at as a society.
Those kinds of people disgust me, and it's not just a kneejerk reaction to the latest Zoo. I remember thinking the exact same thing when I was at Sexpo last week.
Actually, the more that I think about it the more important this issue is. We should immediately cancel the debate on the war in Afghanistan and focus on this terrible act of indecency.
(Actually we should probably cancel the stupid Afghanistan debate anyway, but that's another story.)
After
all, if the divinely selfless St Mary were walking the earth today
surely she would abandon all the vital works of good that immortalised
her and channel her passion into something important like being upset by
a few cheeky pictures.
Oh mercy ...
SIC: DT/AUS