The Pope's New Problem

Pope Benedict XVI is really on a roll: Shortly after welcoming a Holocaust denier back into the Church, il papa has promoted ultraconservative Austrian priest Father Gerhard Maria Wagner, 54, to bishop. Four years ago, the charming Wagner declared that the destruction of Hurricane Katrina was “divine retribution” for New Orleans’ sexual permissiveness, including tolerance of homosexuality. He noted that, in addition to nightclubs and brothels, the hurricane hit abortion clinics. Wagner also accused the Harry Potter books and movies of “spreading Satanism.”