Satirical cartoon rated pathetic

Controversial cartoon Popetown is "pathetic" and "too stupid to be offensive", says a spokeswoman for the Catholic Church in New Zealand.

The satire about a priest at the Vatican premiered on music channel C4 last night despite opposition from members of the Catholic community.

The BBC dumped the show last year after thousands of Catholics complained.

Family Life International has asked C4 to drop the show, calling it "highly offensive" and "deriding of Catholic beliefs, practices, and leadership".

But Catholic Communications director Lyndsay Freer said she "couldn't take it seriously enough to consider it harmful or offensive". Despite the show "being too stupid to be offensive", she could not rule out laying a complaint with the Broadcasting Standards Authority.

The first in the series showed a juvenile Pope who likes hide-and-seek and bouncing on pogo sticks and who says such things as "I hate orphan kids".

Two viewers called C4 to complain. But the channel has defended the decision to air the series, with station manager Andrew Szusterman saying it meets broadcasting standards.

C4 said on its website that Popetown was typical of its other edgy shows, Dirty Sanchez and Jackass.