Cast your vote in the "Papal Skateboard Contest"

I recently announced the Archdiocese of New York's "Papal Skateboard Art Design Contest" to unbelieving ears and wide eyes. Helpful wags were quick to photoshop the pope putting his unlikely gift to good use back home.

Sad to say, my selection didn't make it to the final three, which you can now vote for at http://www.papalskateboardjudge.com/ (which has to be one of the strangest websites I've directed my readers to in a long while).

The Archdiocese has gotten quite serious about this whole thing, with a collection of linked resources:

• Papal Skateboard - Letter to Contestants
• Papal Skateboard - In the News
• Papal Skateboard - Contest Rules
• Papal Skateboard - Art Gallery
• Papal Skateboard - Buy a Board

Fr. Peter Pomposello writes to the contestants:

Your artwork is a reflection of your faith. To borrow from the words of Pope John Paul II, your artwork "is an echo of the mystery of creation with which God, the sole creator of all things, has wished in some way to associate you." Many of your designs are far more than just passing symbols of pop-culture. Your artwork is a means of spreading Pope Benedict's message of hope to inspire all who have experienced your work. Your participation in this contest proves the love you have for Jesus Christ and His Church and your desire to witness to that love. The base and negative culture which at times is associated with skateboarding is simply blown away with the breath of the Holy Spirit through your artwork.

Yours truly might have just found a helpful talking point when he interviews on this topic tomorrow.

And as for Il Papa, I'm still saying, there's a reason he has those shades....