The financially troubled UK visit of Pope Benedict 15th was given a lift yesterday, after ITV said they had been in negotiations to commission a new show - 'Cardinal Idol' - to help raise the required funds.
In the show, pious catholics are invited to perform a series of tasks in front of a live studio audience and a panel of judges, made up of current members of the Vatican hierarchy. With the details still being finalised, the tasks which have been confirmed include:
Amateur Exorcism - where a spitting, foul mouthed young girl will be led onto the stage to have the contestants 'draw out her demons'.
Confessional Live - where they will take live confessions from members of the audience and have to come up with ambiguous, non-commital words of comfort about god's forgiveness.
Vatican Redeployment - here contestants will be asked to find new jobs, with the minimum of fuss, for disgraced clergymen facing allegations of abuse.
The winning contestant will receive a 1 year contract worth more than £50,000 to walk about in a red dress and nod whenever the Pope speaks, in Rome's Vatican City.
Pope Benedict released the following statement through his press office: "While I am grateful for the help offered by ITV in funding this visit and am excited by the concept of 'Cardinal Idol', I really had thought it was a wind up when my head of communications said they were 'sending me to Coventry'.
