Clergyman told jokes about Pope

A NORTHERN clergyman at the centre of a storm over mimicking the ailing Pope almost provoked a walkout when he told jokes about the pontiff at a previous function, it was revealed yesterday.

The Rev Stephen Dickinson is facing calls to resign after his impression of John Paul II at a gospel rally near Lisburn Co Antrim in February. The Co Antrim-based Presbyterian minister admitted making a joke at the Pope’s expense but denied mocking his struggle with Parkinson’s disease.

Mr Dickinson, grand chaplain of the Orange Order, said he had “taken the mickey” out of Pope John Paul II but had not meant to cause any offence.