Pope Lands In Headlines Courtesy Of Roaming Spider

Be you the President or the Pope, wayward insects are apparently the quickest way to land yourself in the headlines! Over the weekend Pope Benedict XVI visited the Czech Republic to pontificate (literally!) about steps having to do with strengthening “the relations between the Czech Republic and the Vatican.” Anyway, the only part of this, by all accounts, successful visit that made news was that a spider (boldfaced because it is now a celebrity) climbed on the Pope’s robes during his speech.

Unlike John Paul II, who was much more of a crowd-pleaser, the current Pope just gets no respect from the American media. He’s been virtually ignored since the horse race of his election in 2005, popping up only when he condemns abortion in Brazil and says suchlike controversial things. Newsweek‘s list of 2008’s most powerful people in the world put Pope Benedict behind John Lasseter, the chief creative officer at Pixar. Now, WALL-E was a delightful yet socially conscious movie and all, but it does not lead more than one billion people worldwide.

The solution: a big old spider crawling on his robes when he’s making a speech. Here’s the video, ye brothers of jackals:

(photo and video via the AP)

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