Irish Examiner View: Have you heard the one about the Pope and the mother-in-law?

Mother-in-laws are the victim of cliches, the pontiff said.

Pope Francis leaves at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, last Wednesday. Picture: Andrew Medichini/AP

It’s difficult to imagine Pope Francis playing straight man to comedian Les Dawson, doyen of the mother-in-law joke, but he seems to have been auditioning for the role during his general audience at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican this week.

Be kind to your mother-in-law because she is the victim of cliches, was his message.

“I’m not saying we see her as the devil, but she is always presented in a pejorative way” the Pontiff added.

Perhaps Pope Francis had in mind one of Dawson’s jokes: “I can always tell when the mother-in-law’s coming to stay; the mice throw themselves onto the traps.”