Sic transit gloria mundi

So Pope Benedict is visiting DC soon. There is a big push to get people to metro to the event. The metro commissioned an ad featuring a "Pope Benedict" bobblehead doll, which it is now spiking after the diocese expressed concerns.



My initial reaction is that the diocese has no sense of humor. Though to be fair, this comes from someone who dressed up as the Pope for Halloween in 10th grade.

However, it turns out that they objected to the fact that the Benedict Bobblehead was incorrectly dressed:

"Our concern is that this was a bad bobblehead," said Susan Gibbs, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese. "You had unauthorized merchandise and you had a misdressed pope."

The bobblehead portrayed in the Metro video was wearing a red skull cap, known as a zucchetto, and a red cape. "Popes don't wear red skull caps" and they don't wear red capes, only white ones, Gibbs said.

"We think there's a better way to encourage people to take Metro," Gibbs said. "This is the Holy Father, and I think a lot of people would not be comfortable with a bobblehead ad."

The video showed a 7 3/4 inch bobblehead of Pope Benedict XVI riding a Green Line train, buying a special one-day pass, and demonstrating proper Metro etiquette, like standing on the right going up an escalator.