Sinead O'Connor: Threat to Shoot Pope Benedict XVI a 'Joke'
Popular Irish singer Sinead O'Connor insists that she was only joking when the artist posted a comment on her Twitter account Saturday stating that she would perform a "bloodbath" if Pope Benedict XVI visited Ireland.
The singer, who explained on her website that her remarks were made in jest, also suggested that she would shoot the pontiff.
"Young people of Ireland I love u' said Sinead as she pulled the [expletive] trigger," the artist tweeted, reffering to words of John Paul II, which he famously uttered in his 1979 pilgrimage to Ireland.
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U.S. Catholic League President Bill Donohue responded to the outburst Monday.
"Sinead O'Connor has a long history of Catholic bashing, so in one sense her latest foray is not unusual," he said in a statement. "What's new, however, is her advocacy of violence. Given her precarious condition, it is not likely she could shoot straight, but her violent appeal may trigger others to act. That is the danger."
He added that O'Connor is not doing well, referring to the singer's mental health, which she also made note of on her website.
"The cops were recently summoned to her home after she tweeted about suicide. She needs long-term help. In the meantime, whatever family or friends she has would do well to get her to ramp down her rhetoric and at least pretend to be normal," Donohue stated.
An Irish bishop, Pat Buckley, also reacted to the tweets. He told the Evening Herald, an Irish newspaper, that the outburst contains "extreme language" and is very worrying.
O'Connor has been an outspoken critic of the Catholic Church because of sex abuse cases involving clergy. In 1992, she famously tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II on "Saturday Night Live," throwing the shreds at the camera and saying: "Fight the real enemy."
Her Twitter outburst occurred following a radio poll asking the public whether the pope should visit Ireland.
O'Connor's mental health was been questioned two weeks ago by the public, after she tweeted a message suggesting she might attempt a suicide.
At the time, she left disturbing Twitter messages on her account, suggesting she was contemplating another suicide attempt (she already attempted one on her 33rd birthday).
"All this [expletive] we're not supposed to say. Including suicidal feelings, sex, etc. U just get treated like a crazy person. I want to go To heaven SO bad. Have for yrs," she tweeted at the time.
She asked her followers to suggest ways in which she could commit suicide without having her four children find out.
"But I don't wanna abandon my kids. But if I cud die without them knowing I did it myself I wud. … Anyway.. If any1 knows how I can kill myself," she wrote at the time, triggering police intervention.
O'Connor later wrote on her website that the tweet was actually a cry for help, which she insists people are to do when feeling suicidal.
She added, "I do believe suicide is a sin. Because u may as well have murdered every one who loves u even remotely. Including 'God'. And we all have people who adore us.. Even if we think we don't."
O'Connor used to be a Roman Catholic. In the 1990s, she was even ordained a priest by the Irish Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Church, which is not in communion with the papacy.
