Offence taken? Nun intended!

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an ice cream company from placing posters near the Pope's itinerary, or anywhere else for that matter, saying it mocked Roman Catholic beliefs. The advert showed a pregnant nun eating ice cream in a church, together with the strap line "immaculately conceived". In a riposte to this decision, the advert's creator Antonio Federici, a UK-based company, says it will place them outside Westminster Abbey.

The ASA said in its ruling, "We considered the use of a nun pregnant through immaculate conception was likely to be seen as a distortion and mockery of the beliefs of Roman Catholics. We concluded that to use such an image in a lighthearted way to advertise ice cream was likely to cause serious offence to readers, particularly those who practised the Roman Catholic faith." Emm?!? Why only Roman Catholics? This is where the whole concept of giving offence is often misunderstood. It would help if the ASA had an idea of who might be offended. I'm not, but the ASA doesn't know if I might be because they passed over the Anglican Catholics, the Orthodox, and many others. In fact, all credal Christians believe in the Immaculate Conception.

I bet the ASA don't know about Anglican nuns. Is it an Anglican nun in the poster? If so, could she offend Roman Catholics by being just that? And are the Abbey authorities going to say anything about these posters? Could be offensive to Anglicans. I see a can of worms now instead of ice cream. Oh dear!

Get the abbey habit over the weekend

In these secular times it is hard for monks and nuns to keep up the numbers. Many of us may even think that monasteries are a thing of the past. Henry VIII tried his best to keep them at bay, once he had rifled the coffers and nicked the treasures. However, interest is still bubbling away, if only on a simmering heat.

You can have taster weekends to see if you want to enter the contemplative life. Worth Abbey is putting them on. The Monastic Taster Weekend is designed for men who want to explore whether a life of obedience, stability, poverty and chastity could be for them. Meanwhile, both young men and women can come on the Compass Project - a series of nine weekends. Neither has a specific charge to attend, although donations of up to £70 are accepted.

The BBC is reporting this today. However, it is a Roman Catholic initiative. I'd like to flag up the fact that there are also Anglican monks and nuns. They were restored in the Church of England by John Henry Newman and now there are communities all over the world. The oldest is the Society of St. John the Evangelist. The Retreat Association is a registered charity comprising six British Retreat Groups spanning differing Christian traditions, open to believers and non-believers alike.

Sometimes we are led to believe that monks and nuns are just one type - Roman Catholic. The truth is somewhat different. Here's a great sister act with Whoopi Goldberg and the sisters from the Community of the Holy Spirit (Episcopalian, New York).