From soap to 'SNL,' the pope in pop culture Whether you're Catholic or not, it's impossible to deny the pope's role in world events, and, on the lighter side, in entertainment and related topics. Here's a look at some of the most famous times the papacy met pop culture. soaponarope.com Pope soap on a rope Don't be a dope, use pope soap on a rope. It'll help you cope. You could wash your antelope. Don't sit around and mope! It might give you fresh hope. And if you drop it, you won't have to grope. Just keep it next to your bottle of Scope. Maybe on a bathtub slope. What do ya mean, nope? --Gael Fashingbauer Cooper 'South Park' says first pope was a bunny "South Park's" 2007 "Fantastic Easter Special" -- a "Da Vinci Code" spoof -- neatly links the origins of Peter Rabbit to the papacy. Stan and Kyle find proof that St. Peter, the first pope, was actually a pure-of-heart bunny. "Look at the pope's hat," one character says of the pope's mitre. It makes no sense, except that it was originally designed for (the ears of) a rabbit. Pope Benedict XVI delivers the especially irreverent episode's best line: "I'm pretty sure that killing Jesus is not very Christian." --Dru Moorhouse Samir Hussein / Getty Images Contributor Sinead O'Connor, seen here in 2011, famously tore up a photo of the pope on "Saturday Night Live Sinead O'Connor rips up picture of the Pope It's perhaps the most famous time the papacy met entertainment. In 1992, singer Sinead O'Connor tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II while singing Bob Marley's "Evil" on "Saturday Night Live." O'Connor first changed a lyric about racism to be about child abuse, referencing the church's abuse scandals. She tore the picture while singing the word "evil," then threw the pieces of the photo at the camera and said, "Fight the real enemy." The gesture came as a shock to the show -- during dress rehearsal, O'Connor simply held up a photo of a refugee child. On the following week's show, host Joe Pesci held up the taped-back-together photo and instead ripped up one of O'Connor. --G.F.C. The Shoes of the Fisherman 'Shoes of the Fisherman' In 1963, everyone was reading about the pope. But not the real one. Australian author Morris West hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list with his novel, "The Shoes of the Fisherman," about a fictional pope who ascends to the papacy after spending decades in a Siberian labor camp. The book's timing was impeccable: It was published the same day that Pope John XXIII died. Five years later, the book became a film starring Anthony Quinn and Laurence Olivier. Just a decade after the film. Pope John Paul II was elected, and many pointed out that his life story shares similarities with that of the pope West imagined in his novel. --G.F.C. Guido Montani / EPA Pope Benedict XVI waves to the crowd from the specially modified Mercedes dubbed the "Popemobile." Popemobile It's no Batmobile, but like that famed car, the Popemobile also comes in numerous models. Some have bullet-proof glass, some are open. Some make it seem as if the pope is standing in a mobile glass phone both, others look like Dr. Who's Tardis, and some like the Jeeps from "Jurassic Park." Reportedly, Pope Benedict XVI's most-favored version is a modified Mercedes that can go 160 mph, and the glass room in the back in which the pope waves to the crowds comes complete with its own oxygen supply. --G.F.C. Jaap Buitendijk / Warner Bros. The pope himself may not have been a Harry Potter fan, but the Vatican newspaper had no problem with it. Pope vs. Potter Right around the time Harry Potter fans were anticipating the release of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," in 2003, some critics of the books were making a case to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger about the series" impact on Christianity. German religious writer Gabriele Kuby, a sociologist, wrote a treatise about the dangers of the series. She found a receptive audience in the cardinal, who responded, "It is good that you enlighten us on the Harry Potter matter, for these are subtle seductions that are barely noticeable, and precisely because of that have a deep effect and corrupt the Christian faith in souls even before it could properly grow." Ratzinger, of course, would later become Pope Benedict XVI. The Vatican as a whole, on the other hand, had a different stance. In 2009, the official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, praised "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," saying, "There is a clear line of demarcation between good and evil and [the film] makes clear that good is right. One understands as well that sometimes this requires hard work and sacrifice." --Courtney Hazlett