'Pedobear' on papal billboards becomes online sensation
Pedobear, an internet symbol used to make fun of people displaying sexual interest in children, found its way to the choir stand in the Floriana Granaries where the Pope will say Mass on Sunday. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
No one can be sure if the Pope's visit will be a smooth one but one thing is certain: the whole world is watching.
With the Vatican under constant media attention, even local allegations of child abuse by priests have been reported on various international newspapers, including The Economist and The Observer.
But the act of vandalism, where a paedophilic symbol was sprayed on billboards promoting the Pope's visit next weekend, is gaining even more attention on the internet. Pope Benedict XVI was also given a Hitler moustache on some billboards.
Although the graffiti confused the Maltese public, Pedobear, as it is known by avid internet users, has gripped the attention of cyberspace as many people seem to be taking pleasure in sharing the story.
The Times' story about the billboard's vandalism last Saturday has already been viewed by around 300,000 online readers from around the world, many of whom are taking an active part in linking and sharing the story with their friends. A Google search of the words "Pedobear" and "Malta" finds more than 14,000 entries and the character's Wikipedia page has already been updated to include a reference to the graffiti in Malta.
Wikipedia explains that the cartoon character is used in online communities to mock people showing a sexual interest in underage girls.
"Pedobear is one of the most popular memes on non-English image boards, and is gaining recognition across Europe. Although the meme is apparently unknown in Poland, it has been used as a symbol of paedophilia by Maltese graffiti vandals," the site adds.
On Facebook, a fan page was set up for "The guy who spray-painted Pedobear onto the Pope billboards" - which has already been joined by 754 fans.
But perhaps the most attention to the vandalism is being given on online forums and websites where users send each other "viral" web links, such as reddit.com and buzzfeed.com.
On Twitter, where users publish their thoughts in less than 140 characters, there are countless references to the billboards' vandalism, with most people seemingly amused by the incident.
Most of them poked fun and pointed out that the local media had not recognised the internet meme, and referred to the symbol as something that looked like a panda.
And the vandals have struck again, this time with stencil graffiti of Pedobear sprayed on the choir stand next to the Pope's stage on the Floriana granaries, where Mass will be heard on Sunday.
Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph reported that security around the Pope's visit would be stepped up amid fears of protests.
A Vatican source told the paper there was a real fear protests would be an issue in light of the growing clergy scandal. The newspaper said child abuse victims planned to protest at the airport when the Pope lands on Saturday afternoon.
The police have not yet replied to questions by The Times about whether anyone had applied for a permit to protest or how security was being stepped up.
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H. Meilak
Apr 17th 2010, 23:33
@ray sacco
The pope is not a judge or a magistrate. It's the work of the police to find the culprits. After all he is only Mr. Ratzinger!
ray sacco
Apr 16th 2010, 13:00
@h.meilak:
good for you! as if we don't know that a paedophile can be a priest, a parent, policeman, doctor and also an atheist! but it seems you have lost the whole point here! the subject is not whether a paedophile can be anyone! the subject is that a paedophile will be brought to justice if he is a parent, policeman, doctor and also an atheist! BUT NOT IF HE IS A PRIEST! that is what the whole argument is about mr.meilak!
B Galea
Apr 15th 2010, 17:06
Haha great stuff! But as someone else remarked, pedobear has been a popular internet meme for a few years now.
As I recall, it was created by a Japanese message board as a joke, adopted by the notorious 4chan boards, and quickly spread like wildfire. Some bright spark even entered pedobear into a competition for the 2010 Vancouver winter olympics - where it made the finals before the organisers realised that they were being fooled. By then, a Polish newspaper had already run an article with an image of pedobear as the Olympic mascot.
Glad to see that there's some sort of subversive artistic subculture in my home country, anyway :)
H Meilak
Apr 15th 2010, 15:19
@Miguel Micallef
A paedophile can be a priest, a parent, a policeman, a doctor etc.....and also an atheist.
M.Muscat
Apr 15th 2010, 15:15
Well said D Farrugia
N.vella
Apr 15th 2010, 14:03
@D.Farrugia
What bothers people is that civil people who commit such crimes are sentenced in court (although the years given are usual a joke) whereas when the person is from the clergy, the case ceases to be mentioned.
as for people bashing the pope, well it stands to reason that when things go wrong people will look at the person in charge. All those who lead such organisations (likewise for politics etc) are the prime target when things go wrong and praised when things go well.
@K.M. Fiorentino
Not to offend intelligence we should stop imposing fairy tale doctrine on children from a tender age when they are gullible and leave them to reach their personal conclusion on what faith they want to follow, after all its a personal issue not a national one. Our country is roman catholic due to the events that took place in history. If any of us had been born 1 hr away from our island, lets say in Tunisia, then the religious views would be totally different than to those born in Malta as well as different to those born in China.. seems like only roman cathiolic maltese are good in your eyes
Louisa Felice
Apr 15th 2010, 13:37
@ D Farrugia.
We are not talking about the perpetrators of such horrific crimes; rather it is the cover-up of these crimes that has led to such a revolt against the Catholic Church.
The current wave of 'Pope-bashing' stems from recent evidence that Pope Benedict personally advised against naming and shaming priests who had committed the most serious sexual offences against minors . The Pope's reasoning - it was in order to protect the greater good of the Church!
The local analogy would be as follows: numerous young boys were repeatedly abused and sodomised by the Headmaster of a local school . The Education minister at the time is now the Prime minister. The public have recently been made aware that he knew of the incidents but he refrained from informing the Police or removing the headmaster's teaching warrant becasue of fears it would damage the reputation of the education system!
How would you feel? Would you not be inclined to indulge in a bit of 'bashing' both of the Prime minister and of the education system as a whole for facilitating the cover-up? A 'bashing' is not even close to the punishment this pope deserves if allegations prove true.
ray sacco
Apr 15th 2010, 12:56
@d.farrugia:
no one is trying to bash mr.ratzinger. he just bashed himself back in the 1982 (as leader of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith) with that letter he signed and sent telling an american bishop that he is reluctant to take actions against a priest who was caught abusing children.
i agree with you that there are a lot of priests doing good work, but it is not me or your imaginary church bashers who are putting all the clergy in one rotten basket. it is your church which is doing so, with it's secrecy and protection towards the minority of perverts within it. if your church had some common sense, it would name, shame and give these perverts to the police. in that way, no one could generalise the clergy. and the reason why i am not bashing parenthood, is because other citizens are not protected. you said it yourself, two perverts who abused children were caught and arraigned to court immediately, but clergy members seem to be above the law! this is the real double standards galore mr. farrugia! you need to wake up!
Stefan Gatt
Apr 15th 2010, 12:10
I believe that it is wrong for people all around the world vandalizing billboards and now also the pope's birth place just to prove a point. We are all humans, everyone makes mistakes. I'm not saying I favour the pedophiles! They should be processed and sent to jail, no exceptions & I am in favour of having a register of all these pedophiles so that we can protect our children from such animals (I have nothing against animals, its just a saying).
I believe the pope made a mistake when he didn't do anything against these animals and let them live with their crimes. Everyone is afraid of the church and the state itself does not punish these 'priest' pedophiles like we do to other pedophiles.
My point is that we shouldn't take this against god, we should take this against the church. I believe in god but not a single word the church says. Everyone seems perfect preaching from the altar. Just read the bible and live life as you deem is good.
jmicallef
Apr 15th 2010, 11:31
Let's just hope we got more tourists out of this, now that so many countries have heard about us.
D. Farrugia
Apr 15th 2010, 10:31
@ Ray Sacco & other Church bashers
I am sick of reading more and more people trying to sound cool by trying to bash the Pope. It is obvious that what the pedophile priests did was wrong-very wrong, however the way some people make it sound as if every child who came in contact with a priest was affected in this way is sickening. The vast majority priests did, and continue to do, a tremendous amount of good work with children, and the help they do is invaluable. Do you know how many poor children in African countries (and elsewhere) are getting first hand help to try and live a decent life from priests and missionaries?
It is unfair that you and other people try to portray this negative image of the Church. During these last few days, The Times reported 2 domestic cases of child abuse by parents, one which included a father who raped 3 of his repeatedly. As of today (Thursday morning) the most read story is the one of man accused of raping an eleven year old boy! With the same logic, why aren't you, bashing parenthood as well? Double standards galore!!!
Maria Caruana
Apr 15th 2010, 22:13
You are absolutely right.
To Miguel Micallef. UNFORTUNATELY for you who said us Catholics are few, we're in MILLIONS. And judging by that number we embrace a very very very tolerant and humble religion. You talked about 'hatred' from us Catholics, who is the HATEFUL and DESPICABLE here??? Well, I think it's you. You should go in a muslim country and talk like that about their god, your head will be chopped off!!
RGatt
Apr 15th 2010, 10:28
'If we are not with the Pope, we are not with Christ'.
That's total rubbish. Are you insinuating that Protestants, Baptists, Jehovah's and others are not with Christ. Who are you to judge???
That's the problem with Roman Catholics, your's is the one and only true religion and the rest are fake. Far from it. There's other religions that are much more credible and without any mysteries if you know what I mean. Their followers are also more dedicated.
Christian Sciberras
Apr 19th 2010, 09:05
That is just a subjective comment, both yours and the one your commenting against. As to "a credible religion" don't talk us paradoxes, let me define "religion" to you: "a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith" - Merriam-Webster i.e. beliefs and faith both equate to unfounded thoughts. Therefore a religion cannot be judged by its credibility.
Dexter Camilleri
Apr 15th 2010, 10:06
I applaud the troll who cherished on this golden opportunity. From getting the media to mistake Pedobear for a panda to meaningless security concerns, all from several stencils.
It's a troll people, whose main ability is remorseless provocation. Don't feed.
Kathy Elliot
Apr 15th 2010, 15:54
Hun, you're assuming that people know what a troll is X'D (no, not the hairy thing that hobos under bridges waiting for goat-burger). Odds are, the people who didn't know what Pedobear was also have no idea how a troll translates on the interwabs.
On another note, I totally agree that this smartass is sitting somewhere, satisfied smirk firmly stapled onto his/her face and gloating at all the atttention. Possibly also thinking how s/he may possibly also cause a flame war cherry-on-the-subversive-cake. Cos, you know, Pope-bashing is in at the moment :S
Patrick Farrugia
Apr 15th 2010, 09:21
Multiple comments simply seem to condone and even support this vandalism. The end justifies the means? It seems we are going back ages in time and is really a pity. If any one wants to protest, why not do it in civil manner?
Ian P. Saliba
Apr 15th 2010, 02:03
@ Miguel Micallef: Quite the notable chip on your shoulder against followers of god and the catholic church, eh? What would you say if one, say, a fellow atheist, inferred from your choice of words a slight degree of hatred of your own? This, if true, would surely deprive your unfortunate comments of their credibility, wouldn't they?
Miguel Micallef
Apr 15th 2010, 15:55
You, my friend, have already lost all credibilty along with the church you follow. I at least, have still the benefit of the doubt left :)
Myrna Minkoff
Apr 14th 2010, 13:35
pedo bear didn't BECOME an online sesation, it already was.
Joe Zammit
Apr 13th 2010, 19:16
The large crowds that will gather, please God, on Sunday for the Papal Mass will be sufficient to prove the respect and love the Maltese and Gozitans have for the Pope.
We are always with the Pope, independently what name he bears. If we are not with the Pope, we are not with Christ. Jesus spoke clearly of this unity with the Apostles and their successors, the bishops, and with Peter and his successors, the popes.
Raymond Sammut
Apr 13th 2010, 19:40
"Jesus spoke clearly of this unity with the Apostles and their successors..." You would have a very hard time trying to demonstrate the last three words of your statement, Mr Zammit. A very long shot to say the least. By any reasonable measure, it's even a wild shot. People across Europe and beyond are becoming increasingly tired of lies that have been perpetrated by Rome over many centuries. Time is up for the brutality and deceitfulness of Rome. And we only have the modern media and contemporary accountable governments to thank for.
J Xuereb
Apr 15th 2010, 10:46
"We are always with the Pope, independently what name he BEARS." Lovin' the pun there!
David Caruana
Apr 13th 2010, 17:03
Why should anyone "apply for a permit to protest"?! As some people will be out in the streets waving their white and yellow flags and banners greeting the pope, others who instead wish to carry banners saying "CHILD ABUSE IS A CRIME" or "CRIMEN SOLLICITATIONIS" should not need to apply for any permit. I hope that the authorities can keep in mind that we are a democratic country and as such everyone has the right for peaceful protest and voicing his/her opinion
Sean Grima
Apr 13th 2010, 16:04
iz-zejjed kollu zejjed
ray sacco
Apr 13th 2010, 21:44
@sean grima:
are you refering to the abuses towards children?
Joe Xuereb
Apr 13th 2010, 15:26
@ Joe Zammit. 'he wants to convert even the greatest sinners and make them great apostles of his'. Or He could make great 'sinners/atheists' from one-time great believers (not me. I was always lukewarm). Were you a great sinner once Joe? And you certainly seem to be doing your best to be a great apostle. You're getting there. But more work needs doing on your part. Total commitment to the cause requires one to write He, not he. But I'll let you off this time. A little milk of human kindness from me, this being the week when the pope, sorry, Pope, came to Malta, his last bastion by the looks of it.
@ Christian Sciberras. Quote: 'Lame childish attempts at getting some attention. Lots of kids playing around social network these days'. Sur Sciberras, would you say that kids never missing catechism were attention-seeking? It is a numbers game. The 'good' kids are tomorrow's practitioners. But not necessarily. The 'bad, attention-seeking' kids - saying they are kids is a sweeping assumption don't you think? - are showing their mettle from a young age.. They'll never make 'good' Catholics. Sign of the times I'm afraid.
Christian Sciberras
Apr 18th 2010, 17:20
Joe Xuereb -Quit with the assumption of religious bias.
My argument persists, regardless the amount of religious crap you try to pull up from my mouth.
E. Azzopardi
Apr 13th 2010, 14:54
We are utterly incapable of catching one of these morons. How ineffecient and ineffective can we be? Whatever happened, this is an excellent marketing excercise for tourism with all these journalists and TV stations around and we are so stupid that we want to ruin it.
S Apap
Apr 14th 2010, 06:51
why morons? its protest against him; just cause he's the pope doesn't mean he's above critisism
Jennifer Mifsud
Apr 13th 2010, 14:03
The Luqa monument made a hit on the BBC site, and from facebook posts on yahoo news as well:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8617305.stm
G.Micallef
Apr 13th 2010, 13:29
Who is guarding this place?
Sandro Agius
Apr 13th 2010, 13:27
People who like to judge people without having proofs, but just lies and alegations from media even locally...disgusting...I ask if this is just news or instigation against the Catholic Church with hidden agendas...I hope the police will arrest anyone that will try to make fun of the Pope or of our faith. Enough is Enough...shame
ray sacco
Apr 13th 2010, 21:50
@ sandro agius:
quote:'people who like to judge people"............are you refering those die-hard catholics who play living gods at every chance they get?
K.M. Fiorentino
Apr 13th 2010, 13:26
It seems that there is nothing happening in the world at the moment and every attention has been turned towards the Catholic Church in a bid to try and riducule its history, its principles,
its values and its faithful. This is the usual and one of the many media-inspired money-making world stories. Our intelligence deserves more respect, much more than this scrap. Give us something decent to read please and don't try to humiliate what has made us all the nation we are today - The Church and its Values. Long live the Roman Catholic Church.
J. Grima
Apr 15th 2010, 22:24
Oh the irony.....talking about money-making business and the roman catholic church surely is a coincidence isn't it?
Hint - note the sarcasm ;)
Christian Sciberras
Apr 13th 2010, 11:20
Lame childish attempts at getting some attention.
Lots of kids playing around social network these days.
Some marketeer will make some good business out of it some day...
Jack Anderson
Apr 13th 2010, 15:40
If it takes childish and lame acts to expose the catholic church's duplicity on pedophilia, then so be it.
Joe Zammit
Apr 13th 2010, 10:56
At the beginning of the Catholic Church some anti-Christians made use of graffiti to make fun of Christ and his followers. Notwithstanding this, the Church continued to grow.
In his providence, Christ permits all these childish graffiti to strengthen the Church and knows how to give his irresistible grace when and where he wants to convert even the greatest sinners and make them great apostles of his.
Miguel Micallef
Apr 13th 2010, 13:15
Ahhh the beauty of religion.... damning 'separated' couples because they are living a life of sin, gays because they are living a life of sin and then speaking about how clerical child rapists will receive "his irresistible grace and convert even the greatest sinners and make them great apostles of his".
Wow, wow, and wow.
Atheists should unite to make sure this immoral behaviour of catholics is kept in check. We have already seen some messages full of hatred, even in these blogs - always by catholics. It should not be taken any further - the sentiments of the people at large are being offended by these few catholics who think they can say whatever they want because they have god on their side, yet they get offended for everything else other people mutter.
Chris Fenech
Apr 13th 2010, 14:32
Early Christians used to desecrate Greek and Roman statues as well.
Have a look at this link: http://www.iconoclasm.dk/?cat=4
Chris Fenech
Apr 13th 2010, 17:13
Ever heard of Iconoclasm? Early Christians did it too upon Greek and Roman statues.
http://www.iconoclasm.dk/?cat=4
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