The Toronto Star
October 6, 1992, Tuesday, AM

Sinead shock waves still coming


   NEW YORK (AP) - The NBC switchboard was still getting calls two days later
from people who couldn't believe their eyes when singer Sinead O'Connor tore up
a picture of the pope on Saturday Night Live.

   "There was an immediate viewer response that continued on Sunday and
continues (Monday)," said NBC spokesman Curt Block.

   From the show's conclusion through yesterday, the network received more than
900 calls from people who didn't like the show - and seven who did.

   "I was offended; the executive producer, Lorne Michaels, likewise was
offended and surprised," said Block. "I haven't talked to the cast."

   "I want to emphasize it was a spontaneous act on her part and unauthorized."

   "To me, what she did was an act of hatred and promoted intolerance," said
Joseph Zwilling, a spokesperson for New York's Roman Catholic Archdiocese.

   "The Holy Father would be the first one to want to say a prayer for her,"
said Frank DeRosa, a spokesperson for Brooklyn Bishop Thomas V. Daily. "She's
more to be pitied than condemned . . . She needs some professional help."

   The singer has publicly railed against the church-state relationship in
Ireland, including prohibitions on divorce and abortion and warring among
Catholics and Protestants. The singer sometimes wears a T-shirt bearing the
phrase, "Recovering Catholic".

   O'Connor, who was in England yesterday, wants the action to speak for itself,
said spokesperson Elaine Schock.

   The stubble-haired Irish singer, appearing early Sunday, stood behind a
Rastafarian scarf and several candles while singing the Bob Marley song "War".

   "Fight the real enemy," she said at the end of the song. Then she held up a
large photo of the pope and ripped it into several pieces.

   "There was total silence in the audience: no hissing or booing, no scattered
applause," said Block. "In the control room, there was surprise."

   SNL executives haven't decided whether she'll be allowed back.