UK to Pope: Uh, Sorry About the Abortion Joke

Pope Benedict is headed to the UK in the fall, and while there he's slated to ... open an abortion clinic? Unveil a line of papal-branded condoms? Let loose and sing a duet with the queen? This according to a cheeky memo circulated in Britain's Foreign Office, and obtained by the Sunday Telegraph, purporting to plan the pontiff's itinerary.

Leaving no sacred cow unscathed, the memo also suggested that Benedict bless a gay marriage and take a “harder line on child abuse—announce sacking of dodgy bishops.” London is predictably red-faced, and has issued a profuse apology and shifted a senior official "to other duties." Benedict is presumably not amused.
(More Pope Benedict XVI stories.)