A Bear in a Funny Hat

You'd think a guy with the middle name "Maria" would be a little more sensitive...

Does the pope shit in the woods?

Apparently, if there are plenty of gays in it, he does.

Pope Benedict just promoted Rev. Gerhard Maria Wagner, an Austrian anti-gay pastor, to the wildly mystical position of auxiliary bishop. And the guy that he's elevating… well, to put it bluntly: He's a hater.

In 2005, Wagner was quoted saying that Hurricane Katrina was "God's punishment for the sins of New Orleans," specifically calling attention to the city's annual gay pride parade, Southern Decadence, which, in '05, was scheduled to take place just days after the storm hit. (Wait, there's more.)

Wagner also said in reference to the ol' SD, that the “gates of the city were wide open to celebrate sin." And more cruelly that he was "glad that the hurricane destroyed not only the nightclubs and brothels in the city, but also five abortion clinics."

Actually, the majority of the devastation occurred in neighborhoods and to private dwellings, where over 1,400 people lost their lives and untold numbers lost homes and livelihood. Also, ironically and totally ignored by the myopic "man of God," New Orleans is home to the second-oldest diocese in the United States, housing the oldest continuously operating cathedral in the U.S., and boasting one of the largest concentrations of Roman Catholics in the American South (36% of the city's population, compared to the national average of 24.5%).

Wow. This guy sure sounds like a winner.