Crowd Protests Scranton Paper's Cartoon Satirizing Bishop

By: Dave Astor A crowd of about 45 people gathered outside The Times-Tribune of Scranton, Pa., Friday to protest an editorial cartoon by John Cole.

The Oct. 4 staff cartoon pictured Diocese of Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino as a part-elephant (symbol of the Republican Party) holding a paper saying "thou shalt not vote on any issue but abortion."

That, according to a Times-Tribune story, "was a reference to the bishop recently ordering priests at weekend Masses to read a letter reminding Catholics to keep the church's position on abortion paramount in their minds when they vote next month" -- which could be interpreted as an endorsement of John McCain.

The Saturday article added that the crowd included 17 adults, with the rest children. Protesters accused the Times-Tribune of "anti-Catholic bigotry."

Cole responded: "This isn't an anti-Catholic thing. There is a principle of separation of church and state, which personally to me is very important. [And] I believe single-issue politics is almost always not a good idea."

The cartoon, and the story about the protest, can be seen here.

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