Pope Francis Blesses Male Stripper's Parrot Amore

Pope Francis is a hot commodity these days, so when we found this story, although somewhat dated, we couldn't resist.

You can't make this up. Pope blesses male stripper's parrot. This story, in its entirety, appeared on the ANSA English website, January 29, 2014:

Milan, January 29 - Pope Francis blessed and took into his hands a green parrot that belonged to a former male stripper during his general audience on Wednesday. The parrot's owner thought it best to admit he was the bird's proud father after press reports saying it belonged to a traveling circus from northern Italy. "It was fun," Francesco Lombardi, the former stripper known as Ghyblj, told ANSA. "A sort of mixing of the holy and the profane. I am a world champion stripper and have the leading role in (erotic filmmaker) Tinto Brass's next movie". Lombardi, who has also been the head of the town council of Trezzano, near Milan, said he had come to Rome with his wife and two daughters to attend the general audience, bringing with him the parrot named 'Amore' ('Love'). "Pope Francis, who I am in love with," he said, "called it 'a beautiful gift from God'".

We're thinking that the Italian town of Trezzano must be a fun place.

Parrot Noir: When Good Parrots Go Bad

When good parrots go bad. The Russian news agency Russia Today published this parrot noir crime drama November 21, 2014:

Drug-dealing parrots are the strangest in the menagerie of the Corleone-style Southern Italian region’s nasty pets. Police recently grabbed a pair of parrots who were a part of drug-dealing operation in the Traiano district in Naples. When a phone rang, they would respond by imitating a human voice, saying: “Hello, how much do you need?” But if someone tried to take them out of the cage, the birds would scream: “Now I’ll shoot you!”

Presumably the parrots spoke in Italian, something like this: Ciao, quanto hai bisogno? Ora ti sparo!

In any language, it's a total shame when parrots turn to a life of crime. Which begs the question. When bad parrots are busted, do they ever become stool pigeons?