Church may send Mario complaint to watchdog

The Catholic Communications Office is considering whether to lodge an official complaint with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland after RTÉ stood over a controversial sketch by comedian Mario Rosenstock.

The sketch depicted a man in a church spitting into a bucket, with Rosenstock claiming the joke was not aimed at the Church but was a reference to the phenomenon of Irish Olympic gold medallist Katie Taylor.

The CCO wrote to RTÉ claiming that “to parody the reception of the Eucharist in such a manner goes beyond basic standards of taste and decency which we should be able to expect from our national public service broadcaster”.