"And you thought I was the 'Grand Inquistor' before..."
Editorial cartoonists Cox & Forkum have been drawing caricatures of the famous and influential of late to add to their blog. When I saw the latest entry in that series, I imagined that my title for this post was the unspoken caption of the cartoon.
I suspect some Catholics may be offended that the artist is making an insinuation in the way he drew that grin, especially since I was disturbed by my initial reaction to it myself. But that's the beauty in this art form - when done well, it doesn't really say anything itself, and causes you to reflect on what preconceptions you yourself bring to bear when looking at it. For all we know, Pope Benedict is wearing that mischievous grin because he snuck his cat into the papal apartments for the afternoon. Or the grin might not indicate mischievousness at all.
In an odd sort of way, I like the image. It reminds us that our Holy Father is human, and that he - and we - must occasionally laugh at ourselves as the silly people we are. So much of our faith can lead us to sin and guilt, we sometimes forget not to take some things too seriously - like the caricature of a new pope we're all still trying to figure out.
UPDATE: Well, it just goes to show what perspective does to an image. Apparently, John Cox merely exaggerated an existing photograph when he drew his caricature.
And where did Cox find that photo? At the Vatican website, of course.