Women Protest Pope's Nov. 25 Visit to European Parliament

VATICAN CITY—Despite Pope Francis' seeming willingness to dial down the Catholic Church's bashing of gays and speed up hearings on pedophile priests, there's still no doubt that Catholicism is one of the most sexually repressive religions on earth—and Femen, the international women's rights group that's been holding topless protests in every major European country, mounted yet another one today in Vatican City. What brought the three leather miniskirt-clad women to St. Peter's Square in front of the Vatican was the Pope's impending visit to the European Parliament when it meets in Strasbourg, France on November 25. The Rome Reports news agency described the visit as a "symbolic gesture that's very significant, especially since Europe has become increasingly secular," while German Cardinal Reinhard Marx said that he expected the visit to inspire the Parliament to "remember its Christian roots." But "increasingly secular" is the way Femen would like Europe to remain, and one of the protesting women had the slogan "Pope Is Not A Politician" written across her bare chest. What got the women arrested, however, was when they dropped into doggie position and each braced the upright post (or "stipes") of a crucifix against their miniskirts about where their assholes would be, and made motions as if to insert the religious object into their butts—with the slogan "Keep It Inside" emblazoned in large letters across each protester's back. The arrests capped a full day of Femen activism, as five members of the group interrupted a series of political debates being broadcast on the Italian TV program Announno, on which they had been invited to participate. The women stole the spotlight by standing in a circle at center stage, their bare chests sporting the slogans "God is not a magician" and "Pope is not a politician," and "praying in the name of secularism." "Glory be to equality, and to secularism and to the holy freedom," they chanted. "As it was not in the beginning, should be now and ever should be: a parliament without Pope, a world without religion." The group then "called atheists and religious secularists to unite to protest Pope's visit and to fight the medieval religion already now that is the main obstacle on our way to freedom." According to RawStory.com, however, it was unclear if the protesters would actually face any criminal charges on account of the crucifix-play.