by Barbara Hamilton
God Gazette Features Editor

Before there was The Rock, pro-wrestling's hunkiest bad boy, there was Peter, the rock the church was built upon best known for denying Jesus and becoming the first Pope. After the success of VH1's 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons, a new Catholic teen publication called St. (Saint) has created its own list of Catholic Pop Culture Icons. Read on to see if your favorite Catholic made the sometimes controversial list.

Good But Not Great

Rounding out the upper hundred names on the list were such notable Catholics as Mel Gibson, Bing Crosby, and Martin Sheen.

"We thought these people were pretty well recognized in Hollywood," said Kelsey Grant, one of St.'s consultants on the project. "I mean Mel and Bing both have played priests in the movies and well Martin Sheen is a Catholic playing the president. That hasn't happened since like the '60s."

When asked if she knew that Martin Sheen actually took the stage name Sheen out of admiration for Bishop Fulton Sheen, Grant said that she knew that he was the inventor of the steamboat.

St. On Saints

"Being canonized a saint is basically like saying you're a pop culture icon," said Betsy Dresch marketing director for St. magazine. "People are going to start praying for your intecession, you get full color pictures (with imperfections airbrushed away), statues in your image, the whole nine yards."

Indeed, many of the saints took up the top half of the first one hundred. Saints who did even better were St. Francis (#43), known for the channel of peace (PAX), St. Clare for inspiring TV (#40), and surprisingly St. Christopher (#23).

"The whole St. Christopher thing was really funny," said Tom Breckinridge, public relations manager for St. "We know he's been demoted as a saint, but people still like him. In the pop culture world he's kind of like Michael Jackson. Is it okay to like him? He was so cool for so long. I don't know. But what I do know is that controversy breeds popularity."

Mother May I?

If it's controversy you want, than the placement of the next two names on the list may be what you're looking for. To many people's surprise Mother Angelica (#15) best known for hawking goods on EWTN beat out Mother Teresa (#20), savior of India's poorest.

"My mom watches EWTN," said Mike Goldner, an active youth group member from Wisconsin. "And if she sent as much money to India as she does for rosaries, I think the world would be a better place. St.'s list sickens me."

Roman Numerals

As we got closer to the top of the list we had one question: Would the amount of numbers -- or shall we say letters -- next to a person's name get them a better position on the list?

The case wasn't so for Pope John XXIII. Having twenty-one more numbers after his name did not allow this Pope of Vatican II to surpass the pop culture status of a guy with just two numbers after his name. Pope John Paul II came in at number seven on the list while Pope John XXIII came in at ten.

Controversial Top Ten

But there were more surprises left, even in the top ten. One of the biggest surprises was that MTV's Carson Daly placed #5 on the list.

"Most people don't think that Carson should be that high on the list," said St. editor Maggie Rangoon. "But I think Carson is going to surprise us. He's dumped Jennifer Love Hewitt and broken his engagement with Tara Reid. I think he's headed for the priesthood."

Another relative newcomer was Padre Pio at #3. "He really made bleeding hands cool again," said Rangoon.

With all minor saints and celebs out of the way, there was room for only two more Catholic pop culture icons.

Coming in at number two was Jesus Christ with the Virgin Mary given the honor of the top spot.

"We came to this decision for many reasons," said public relations manager Tom Breckinridge. "First off, Mary just seems to have more devotions. With over 50 Hail Mary's in a rosary, her name is perhaps the most mentioned in all prayers. Also she's mentioned in a Beatles' song and Madonna was named after her. Not to mention sports. I mean really, has anyone ever heard of a Jesus Christ play in football? No. Mary's our lady."

For some Catholics these results are what they have feared for too long -- Mary being given almost co-redeemer status with Jesus. But some in the clergy see this as merely a trend that will soon pass.

"We've gotten past worse things before," said Fr. Brandon Stinnett of the Archdiocese of Detroit. "There was a time in our church's history when we shied away from the very idea of icons. (Sorry, Byzantine Rite.)"

Copyright 2003 by Nick Popadich
All rights reserved.