London, England, Oct 21, 2003 / 22:00 pm
A new pressure group in London called Catholics Unplug Your Television (CUT) is urging the faithful switch off their sets and stop paying their license fee, which goes to support the BBC, after the recent attacks against the Church by the network.
The boycott was organized after statements from the Bishops of England and Wales which denounced the anti-Catholic bias of several documentaries blaming the Catholic Church for the spread of AIDS and the abuse of children, and the announcement of a new animated series attacking Pope John Paul II, called Popetown.
CUT Director, Steffano Mazzeo, told the Catholic Times that every time Catholicism is mentioned on BBC it is followed by a "detrimental comment."
In Britain, every household pays a TV license of more than £120 which directly funds the BBC. Even householders who only watch commercial TV stations must pay the license or risk a fine or even imprisonment.
Mazzeo explained that the BBC has a constant offensive tone against Catholics and that other religions are not treated in that fashion. He hopes thousands of Catholics will join the boycott.