Maher faces firing squad again

While most of the media attention focused on Pope Benedict XVI's trip to the United States was overwhelmingly positive, one television show host's choice words for the pope and the Catholic Church landed him in hot water. And an apology has only stoked the fire. Bill Maher, host of Real Time on HBO, spouted off a rant on his April 11 live show that had many calling for his resignation.

As Benedict was readying for a six-day trip to the United States, Maher was critical of the Catholic Church because he feels the religion was treated differently after its sexual abuse scandal because of its history, size and clout. Maher also took comedic jabs at the pope, commenting on his attire and harping on the fact he was part of Hitler Youth -- a group he was forced to join and one he eventually fled.

Maher said: "If you have a few hundred followers and you let some of them molest children, they call you a cult leader. If you have a billion, they call you 'pope.'"

After the backlash, Maher offered an apology on his April 18 show: So, on that score, you know what, my Catholic friends, I will never make the "pope is a Nazi" joke again. Because, you're technically right, OK, and also because it distracts from the main point. And the main point I was making was that if the pope, instead of a religious figure, was the CEO of a chain of nationwide day care centres who had thousands of employees who had been caught molesting children and then covering it up, he would have been in jail.

Bill Donohue, president of the The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, replied: "We accept Maher's apology for accusing the pope of being a Nazi. Too bad he didn't stop there. For him to suggest that Pope Benedict XVI was in charge of policing molesters, and failed in doing so, is patently absurd."

The American Life League, a Roman Catholic group, has set up a Website asking for the outright firing of Maher. The New York native is, of course, no stranger to controversy. In 2002, ABC decided not to renew his show, Politically Incorrect, after Maher commented that the 9/11 terrorists were not cowards.