The Toronto Star October 25, 1992, Sunday, SUNDAY SECOND EDITION Wait! Sinead believes in God DUBLIN (Reuter, AP) - Sinead O'Connor, who outraged Catholics by tearing up a picture of the pope on television, said Friday she was a Christian who believed in God. The shaven-haired Dubliner, now better known for her controversial views than her songs, said, "God is truth to me." Cancelling a London press conference that was called to defend her views, she instead sent an open letter to newspapers, saying she wanted to speak out for child abuse victims because she was one herself. O'Connor, the 25-year-old singer whose biggest hit was the chart-topping Nothing Compares 2U in 1989, has courted controversy on both sides of the Atlantic. She voiced support for the Irish Republican Army guerrilla fight to oust Britain from Northern Ireland and stormed into the Dublin parliament to demand a meeting with Prime Minister Albert Reynolds over Ireland's abortion ban. She has had two abortions. She refused to have the U.S. national anthem played at one of her concerts, prompting Frank Sinatra to say she deserved "a kick up the ass." Her latest troubles started three weeks ago on Saturday Night Live when she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul. "I think it was just the irreverence of it. Why is she blaming the pope for her mother abusing her as a child? It's ridiculous," said Bill Fugazy of the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations in the U.S. On Wednesday, the organization used a steamroller to crush more than 200 Sinead albums. The remains were to be shipped to Sinead. Fugazy isn't the only person ripping O'Connor. Oscar-winner Pesci, appearing a week later on SNL, produced a reassembled version of the pope's picture during his monologue. "She was very lucky it wasn't my show, because if it was my show, I would have gave her such a smack," Pesci said to cheers. Even Madonna - who just released a 128-page book of erotic fantasies - defended the pope: "I think there's a better way to present her ideas rather than ripping up an image that means a lot to other people." At a New York concert to honor Bob Dylan, O'Connor fled the stage in tears after being booed. "I must say that Ms. O'Connor brings out the worst in many of us. She came onstage with her own agenda and 'an attitude,"' columnist Liz Smith wrote about that fiasco. A Rolling Stone cover story didn't help, either. O'Connor, in an interview, defended convicted rapist Mike Tyson and labelled his victim, Desiree Washington, "a disgrace to women." She also advocated marijuana use. The controversy hasn't even helped record sales. Her album Am I Not Your Girl? debuted three weeks ago on the Billboard charts at No. 27; it has since dropped to No. 47. In her open letter to newspapers, O'Connor said child abuse must be exposed. "If the the truth remains hidden, then the brutality under which I grew up will continue for thousands of Irish children. "And I must by any means necessary, without the use of violence, prevent this from happening because I am a Christian. "Child abuse is the highest manifestation of evil. It is the root and face of every addiction. Its presence in society shows that there is no contact with God. And God is truth to me." But she did not let up in her attacks on the Roman Catholic Church, saying it controlled people "most spectacularly through the lies they taught us with their history books." Apparently anxious to lose her label as the world's most outspoken pop star, she also gave a lengthy interview to Britain's tabloid Sun, telling the paper "I'm not a raving looney. I'm a fiery, passionate woman who cares about what is happening in the world. "My biggest aim is to persuade the world to get rid of money, the root of all evil," she said. Meanwhile, the designer Mary McFadden disinvited O'Connor to her Nov. 5 fashion show featuring styles based on Ireland's Book of Kells. Said McFadden: "Her political statements have no place at my spring-summer fashion show." (Autumn-winter, maybe.)