ST FRANCIS was just addressing a sparrow as Sister Bird up there on the big screen when a man sat down beside me in the cinema and squeezed my 13-year-old knee. (The other knee was the same age, but he chose to fondle only the one on the right.)

Pope John Paul has invited representatives from all the world's religions to come to Italy for a day long joint prayer for peace after the terrorist attacks in America on September 11.