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https://nypost.com/2021/06/01/sinead-oconnor-on-why-she-ripped-up-photo-of-pope-on-snl/
SinĂŠad OâConnor explains why she ripped up photo of the pope on âSNLâ
By Ben Cost
June 1, 2021
The event occurred in October 1992, when the âSuccess Has Made a Failure of Our Homeâ singer shredded a pic of Pope John Paul II onstage while performing on âSNL.â The stunt got the Grammy winner exiled from NBC for life and also booed offstage at a Bob Dylan tribute concert a few weeks later, Rolling Stone reported.
At the time, OâConnor, now 54, said she had torn up the photo to protest sexual abuse of children by the Catholic Church. However, she recently revealed that the story goes much deeper.
âMy intention had always been to destroy my motherâs photo of the pope,â she writes. âIt represented lies and liars and abuse. The type of people who kept these things were devils like my mother.â
She says she kept the photo with her for years. âI never knew when or where or how I would destroy it, but destroy it I would when the right moment came,â she writes.
Prior to her âSNLâ appearance, OâConnor had been reading accounts in Irish newspapers about children abused by priests who got off scot-free.
OâConnor writes that she visited her motherâs home after her death and âtook down from her bedroom wall the only photo she ever had up there, which was of Pope John Paul II.â
The performer explains that âit was taken when he visited Ireland in 1979.â She recounted how the pope had told the âyoung people of Irelandâ that he loved them after making a show of kissing the ground at the Dublin airport, as if the flight had been âoverly frightening.â
âWhat a load of claptrap,â the Roman Catholic-raised Muslim convert scoffs in the memoir. âNobody loved us. Not even God. Sure, even our mothers and fathers couldnât stand us.â
The photo-ripping stunt itself was reportedly inspired by a 1978 appearance by the Boomtown Rats on âTop of the Popsâ in which singer Bob Geldof tore up a photo of Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. The musician was reportedly commenting on how his bandâs single âRat Trapâ kicked the duoâs âSummer Nightsâ out of the No. 1 spot after the âGreaseâ soundtrack cut had reigned there for seven weeks.
Almost 30 years on, OâConnor has no regrets over ripping the pope on camera.
âEveryone wants a pop star, see?â she writes. âBut I am a protest singer. I just had stuff to get off my chest. I had no desire for fame.â
This isnât the only bombshell the musician divulges in her memoir. OâConnor spills the beans on a hellish incident in 1990, after she had a huge hit covering Princeâs âNothing Compares 2 U.â The Purple One allegedly trapped her in his home and when she got away, chased her around a freeway while threatening to beat her.