University president apologizes for blasphemous mockery of Pope
May 02, 2013
In a belated response to a public uproar, the president of Carnegie-Mellon University has acknowledged that an obscene mockery of the Pope was “highly offensive.”
President Jared Cohon said that he had hoped to avoid public comment on an incident-- in which an undergraduate woman paraded naked from the waist down, handing out condoms, while wearing a cap shaped as a miter--- until the university had completed its own internal investigation. “But in light of comments I have heard from people on and off campus, I have decided that an update is in order.”
“I regret that this occurred and I apologize to all who were offended by this, for religious or other reasons,” Cohon said.
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Further information:
- Carnegie Mellon University chief apologizes for papal parody (Trib Live)
- Pittsburgh bishop protests blasphemous display at Carnegie-Mellon campus (CWN, 5/1)
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Posted by: hartwood01 -
May. 02, 2013 7:27 PM ET USA
It seems President Cohon waited to see how many were offended,obviously,he was not one of them.
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Posted by: filioque -
May. 02, 2013 7:10 PM ET USA
This is the usual qualified apology, to those who might have been offended. Is there any civilized person who would not be offended? The whole point was to offend! Can't the president of a university say that this is not rational discourse in an exchange of ideas seeking truth?
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Posted by: jg23753479 -
May. 02, 2013 6:31 PM ET USA
Yes, and does it occur to the president that, given that the obscenity was directed at the Catholic Church and its leader, it might be appropriate to apologize to the bishop directly and privately? A public mea culpa is fine, but this blasphemy demands more, something one need not have to tell the president of a university.
