KFC offers new fish sandwich to Vatican for B16's blessing

Sometimes it's truly odd what the keyword phrase "Pope Benedict" brings up in the daily wire of press photos:

"This undated photo provided by KFC Public Relations shows the fried chicken chain's Fish Snacker Sandwich. KFC has asked Pope Benedict XVI to bless the sandwich, a Lenten addition to the chain's Snacker sandwich line. KFC sent the Pope a letter earlier this month, asking him to bestow a blessing on the sandwich. While the sandwich is being marketed generally, John O'Reilly, chief marketing officer for KFC, said the sandwich should prove especially popular on Friday's, when Catholics traditionally don't eat meat in the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday. (AP Photo/KFC, Dan Kremer)

Catholic Online published a quotation from the letter sent to Pope Benedict, in which the president of KFC claims that the sandwich "is ideal for American Catholics who want to observe Lenten season traditions while still leading their busy, modern lifestyles."

Not to read too much into this, but a part of me dislikes the tone of the phrase "while still leading their busy modern lifestyles." Is the Pope supposed to be unaware of the state of the world? A world in which people are forced to consume horrible, tasteless, microwaved excuses for nutrition in their frenzied pursuit of wealth, happiness and fullfillment?

Oh well, I guess the big picture here is that KFC tried to go out of its way to cater to Catholics. I know of other fast food chains, such as McDonald's, that have done similar things in the past, but I guess asking the Pope for a blessing for the product line is something new.

Incidentantally, as a bit of Catholic culturual trivia, lovers of McDonald's Filet-o-Fish sandwich have observant Catholics to thank, as this recent article in The Cincinnati Enquirer explains in good detail:

In 1962, Lou Groen was desperate to save his floundering hamburger restaurant, the first McDonald's in the Cincinnati area.

His problem: His clientele was heavily Roman Catholic. In those days, most Catholics abstained from meat every Friday, as well as during Lent, the 40-day period of repentance that begins this week with Ash Wednesday.

His solution: He created the Filet-O-Fish — a sandwich that saved his restaurant and eventually would be consumed at a rate of 300 million a year.

...

"I was struggling. The crew was my wife, myself and a man named George. I did repairs, swept floors, you name it.

"But that area (where his restaurant was located) was 87% Catholic. On Fridays we only took in about $75 a day," said Groen, a Catholic himself. "All our customers were going to Frisch's.

[Read on to learn about ay Kroc's counter-proposal, the infamous "Hula Burger"]

Gee, all this talk of fish is making me look forward to tomorrow, and that isn't a good thing!

MSNBC has a slightly longer article treating KFC's recent request to Pope Benedict.

The CurtJester has doubts that Papa Benny will do anything, and then has some fun with the story.

BettNet adds a more somber, but important and challenging, reflection on this state of affairs.