Catholics angry over Pope cartoon

Protestors are calling the BBC to ban its cartoon series Popetown because they claim it features "anti-Catholic bigotry".

Around 6,000 people have signed a petition against the new BBC3 show set in the Vatican, which features Ruby Wax as the voice of the pontiff.

Their letter, organised by the Centre For Peace in Ilford, Essex, calls the show a "blatant attack on the faith of thousands of English Catholics."

It adds: "We demand that our religion be given the respect that is due to any other religion in the UK and will continue to protest until this series is withdrawn.

A spokesman for the BBC told actors' newspaper The Stage: "BBC3 is not here to cause offence and Popetown is an obviously fictional comic animation series.

"We are sure that once viewers get a chance to see the programme, they will discover it is more about poking fun at office bureaucracy than anything else."

Published: 26 Feb 2003