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Oct. 9, 2015 |
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‘Mutts’ comic strip features quotes from Pope Francis By Mark Pattison | CNse WASHINGTON — Those uninterested in the news coverage of Pope Francis’ U.S. visit might have ditched the front page and turned to other sections of the newspaper for a break. Not likely. Patrick McDonnell, creator of the “Mutts” comic strip that appears in 700 newspapers, used the week of Sept. 21 — the week of the papal visit — to feature seven quotations from Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’.” The reception was terrific, according to McDonnell, a Catholic born on St. Patrick’s Day in 1956. “We posted the cartoons on our Facebook page. We just had an amazing response, a phenomenal response of people reading it and enjoying it,” McDonnell told Catholic News Service in an Oct. 2 telephone interview. “The people that run my Facebook page said it was one of the most successful as far as getting people liking and responding.” Nor did McDonnell get much pushback from his editors at King Features Syndicate about the source of the quotations. “Actually, none at all,” he said. How did such a pairing come about? “Right off the bat, when he first became pope and he took the name Francis after St.
CNS photo | courtesy King Features Syndicate, a unit of Hearst Corporation
This is an image from the comic strip, “Mutts,” which is created by Patrick McDonnell and appears in 700 newspapers. McDonnel used the week of Sept. 21, the week of Pope Francis’ U.S. visit, to feature seven quotations from the pontiff’s encyclical Laudato Si’.
Francis — St. Francis being the patron saint of animals and obviously that was very important to me — I was interested in him,” McDonnell said. “I think that if I remember right, there were little stories with him telling a boy that his dog would be in heaven. There were definitely hints of what was going to come,” he added. “My wife’s (Karen O’Connell) a big fan (of Pope Francis), and she actually read (‘Laudato Si’’’) first,” McDonnell said. “I was always going to read it, but she said, ‘You should read this and maybe we can get something out together on this.” McDonnell noted that, while her name
isn’t on the strip, “my wife is obviously a very big part of the ‘Mutts’ world. She gives me great feedback. She sees everything I do.” After reading Laudato Si’, “I was so impressed. That was powerful stuff about animals and the environment. In ‘Mutts’ a lot of the time, I illustrate them and I just thought that paper (the encyclical) was filled with wonderful thoughts about animals and I thought of all the things I could do. And I thought, ‘I don’t know how much of the public might have read that paper.’” With Pope Francis’ pending journey to the United States, the time seemed ripe for McDonnell to
use quotes from the encyclical. He found Laudato Si’ so rich with material, McDonnell said, “I probably could have done three months of quotes. I realized I had such a wealth I thought a week would be good. So I decided ... after reading that and seeing his thoughts there, that I would do it. It was a joy for me.” He noted there are a couple of things that he has yet to do in “Mutts,” and thinks he’ll get to them eventually. The first order is to “free the guard dog, and I’m definitely going to do that someday soon,” McDonnell said. The other is to actually show the object of Mooch the cat’s unrequited
love, Schnelly. McDonnell has been doing “Mutts” for 20 years. He said he splits his time 50-50 between the strip and other projects such as charitable work, especially with animal advocacy organizations. “Animals are fellow souls on the planet and we should keep good care of them,” he added. Another way McDonnell uses non-“Mutts” time is by illustrating other books. He said he is thinking of illustrating a book entirely on quotations from Laudato Si’ based on the material he highlighted, although there’s no word whether Mooch or Earl, the dog from “Mutts,” would appear in such a volume.
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The Compass
Oct. 9, 2015 |
11
www.thecompassnews.org
‘Mutts’ comic strip features quotes from Pope Francis By Mark Pattison | CNse WASHINGTON — Those uninterested in the news coverage of Pope Francis’ U.S. visit might have ditched the front page and turned to other sections of the newspaper for a break. Not likely. Patrick McDonnell, creator of the “Mutts” comic strip that appears in 700 newspapers, used the week of Sept. 21 — the week of the papal visit — to feature seven quotations from Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’.” The reception was terrific, according to McDonnell, a Catholic born on St. Patrick’s Day in 1956. “We posted the cartoons on our Facebook page. We just had an amazing response, a phenomenal response of people reading it and enjoying it,” McDonnell told Catholic News Service in an Oct. 2 telephone interview. “The people that run my Facebook page said it was one of the most successful as far as getting people liking and responding.” Nor did McDonnell get much pushback from his editors at King Features Syndicate about the source of the quotations. “Actually, none at all,” he said. How did such a pairing come about? “Right off the bat, when he first became pope and he took the name Francis after St.
CNS photo | courtesy King Features Syndicate, a unit of Hearst Corporation
This is an image from the comic strip, “Mutts,” which is created by Patrick McDonnell and appears in 700 newspapers. McDonnel used the week of Sept. 21, the week of Pope Francis’ U.S. visit, to feature seven quotations from the pontiff’s encyclical Laudato Si’.
Francis — St. Francis being the patron saint of animals and obviously that was very important to me — I was interested in him,” McDonnell said. “I think that if I remember right, there were little stories with him telling a boy that his dog would be in heaven. There were definitely hints of what was going to come,” he added. “My wife’s (Karen O’Connell) a big fan (of Pope Francis), and she actually read (‘Laudato Si’’’) first,” McDonnell said. “I was always going to read it, but she said, ‘You should read this and maybe we can get something out together on this.” McDonnell noted that, while her name
isn’t on the strip, “my wife is obviously a very big part of the ‘Mutts’ world. She gives me great feedback. She sees everything I do.” After reading Laudato Si’, “I was so impressed. That was powerful stuff about animals and the environment. In ‘Mutts’ a lot of the time, I illustrate them and I just thought that paper (the encyclical) was filled with wonderful thoughts about animals and I thought of all the things I could do. And I thought, ‘I don’t know how much of the public might have read that paper.’” With Pope Francis’ pending journey to the United States, the time seemed ripe for McDonnell to
use quotes from the encyclical. He found Laudato Si’ so rich with material, McDonnell said, “I probably could have done three months of quotes. I realized I had such a wealth I thought a week would be good. So I decided ... after reading that and seeing his thoughts there, that I would do it. It was a joy for me.” He noted there are a couple of things that he has yet to do in “Mutts,” and thinks he’ll get to them eventually. The first order is to “free the guard dog, and I’m definitely going to do that someday soon,” McDonnell said. The other is to actually show the object of Mooch the cat’s unrequited
love, Schnelly. McDonnell has been doing “Mutts” for 20 years. He said he splits his time 50-50 between the strip and other projects such as charitable work, especially with animal advocacy organizations. “Animals are fellow souls on the planet and we should keep good care of them,” he added. Another way McDonnell uses non-“Mutts” time is by illustrating other books. He said he is thinking of illustrating a book entirely on quotations from Laudato Si’ based on the material he highlighted, although there’s no word whether Mooch or Earl, the dog from “Mutts,” would appear in such a volume.
97 YEARS OF SERVICE TO NORTHEAST WISCONSIN AND COUNTING
Catholic Charities needs you! Share your love of golf or special events by joining the planning committees for these upcoming events.
VOCATIONS AWARENESS WEEK NOVEMBER 1–7, 2015 The Compass will publish the annual Vocations Supplement on October 30, 2015. The ad space reservation deadline is October 16, 2015. For information on advertising, contact:
AMY KAWULA
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Green Bay
To volunteer, call or email Ted at:
(920) 272-8234
or [email protected]
D TB
For event details, visit: www.newcatholiccharities.org
E AT D
ADVERTISING AND MARKETING MANAGER www.thecompassnews.org Phone: (920) 272-8212 Toll Free: (877) 500-3580, ext. 8212 (from 920 & 715 area codes) Email: [email protected]
16 6 20 01 G ,2 19 TIN AY OU , M LF AY O D G ES U IN G T LD A A AL SP G AL AL U U N N N AN H A T D 24 3R S IES IE IT RIT A AR H CH C C LIC LI O HO H AT CAT
LOVE OF THE HEART OF JESUS
C
Works of Mercy
