AFP
July 2, 2008
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ho_EdpZAvqdpDrUl3A5tdvPPxCDQ
SYDNEY (AFP) — New laws to prevent people "annoying" Catholic pilgrims during Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit to Australia are likely to backfire and provoke both protesters and jesters, activists said Wednesday.
Under the headline "World Youth Day gets annoying," a Sydney Morning Herald online blog about the restrictions for the Catholic celebration from July 15-20 notes that "annoying people has been a great Australian tradition".
Under the new laws, police will be able to stop conduct that "causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants" in World Youth Day events, which are expected to draw hundreds of thousands of young people to Sydney.
Lawyers say this means that anyone simply wearing a T-shirt with a slogan deemed provocative could be liable to arrest and a fine of up to 5,500 dollars (5,250 US dollars).
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| A ferry (C) passes by the Papal stage (front) on Sydney Harbour's Barangaroo Wharf |
An online retailer is already advertising T-shirts with the slogan: "5,500 dollars — a small price to pay for annoying Catholics".
The Sydney Morning Herald online carried a picture of a more loaded T-shirt reading: "The Pope touched me Down Under" — a pun on Australia's informal name and the Catholic sex abuse scandal which now dogs the pontiff on his travels.
During a visit to the United States in April, Benedict apologised for the actions of child-abusing clergy and Australian victims of predator priests are urging him to do the same in Australia.
"The laws are likely to encourage a wave of civil disobedience, with lots of people wearing dissenting T-shirts, conducting marches and carrying banners and placards," the victim support group Broken Rites said on its website.
The team behind the popular satirical television show "The Chaser's War on Everything" has also suggested the laws would provoke rather than pacify protesters.
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| Pope Benedict XVI |
The programme won international headlines last year when its stars breached security at a global summit in Sydney by posing as part of a Canadian motorcade carrying an Osama bin Laden lookalike.
"I don't think people should accept silly and bad laws like this lying down," team member Julian Morrow told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"I reckon everyone in New South Wales who's concerned about civil liberties should be printing up T-shirts and walking around World Youth Day to make their statement," Morrow said.
A group calling itself the NoToPope Coalition has already announced plans to hand out condoms to pilgrims as part of protests against the pope's opposition to contraception, homosexuality and abortion.
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| Rachel Evans, a spokeswoman for the "NoToPope" coalition |
The coalition, which brings together Christians, atheists and gay groups, has said it will defy the new regulations to get across its message that opposing condom use condemned thousands of people to dying of AIDS.
"We will protect our civil liberties and help young people to protect their health, and no pope or premier will stop us," said spokeswoman Rachel Evans.
New South Wales state Premier Morris Iemma told reporters the regulations "were brought in following consultation with the church and advice from the World Youth Day authority".
But the event's organisers denied that they or the church had pressed for extra powers to be given to protect pilgrims.
"The church did not ask for any special power to be given to police," World Youth Day 2008 spokesman Danny Casey told reporters.
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| A T-shirt by Sydney designer Tristan Parry which highlight new laws preventing people from "annoying" Catholics |
"Our concern has always been about the efficient running of this event, these are normal powers and people are free to protest."
However, when asked what he would consider to be an annoying act, he appeared to tempt fate saying: "If someone decided to stage a protest on the middle of the Harbour Bridge during the pilgrimage walk... that would probably be annoying."
About a quarter of Australia's 21 million people describe themselves as Catholics, while 19 percent say they have no religion.
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