Chicago Sun-Times October 9, 1992, FRIDAY , LATE SPORTS FINAL Sinead Tops Protest Chart ; Stunt on TV Keeps Phone Lines Ringing William Braden It is, as an official of a talk radio station put it, "the issue that won't go away.' The issue is the stunt by singer Sinead O'Connor on "Saturday Night Live" in which she tore up a photograph of Pope John Paul II and said, "Fight the real enemy." "The phones rang so hard they were practically levitating," said Drew Hayes, operations director for WLS-AM and FM. "I would characterize the responses as about equally people violently opposed to her doing it and those who were staunchly in support of her right to do it." WMAQ-Channel 5, the NBC station that carried the show in Chicago, said it had received 435 calls of protest as of Thursday noon. And the Chicago Sun-Times received dozens of calls protesting a Richard Roeper column that, while not endorsing O'Connor's action, said the spontaneity and impact of the episode made it "television's finest hour." "Millions of Catholics in the Chicago area are incensed at this blatant defamation of the leader of our church," declared Tom O'Connell, executive director of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. In New York, John Cardinal O'Connor said the singer had offended Catholics around the world. "As his spiritual sons and daughters, we Catholics, even the most mature among us, are deeply offended," said the cardinal. The reaction in Chicago from Catholic officialdom and parishioners appeared more tempered. Said Bob Quakenbush, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Chicago: "This may disappoint the singer and her record company's marketing executives, but our feeling is that our best course of action is very simple: Don't talk about her. The less people talk about her, the more money it will ultimately cost her record company to advertise and promote her and her albums." Quakenbush added, "For coverage of television programs, I usually skip past Roeper and read (Sun-Times radio/TV columnist) Rob Feder." Also sounding even-tempered were Loyola University students. "No, my religious standpoint is strong enough not be be offended by someone tearing up a picture," said Steven Wiser, 23, a senior. Added Dan Teranes, 18, a freshman, "It's no big deal." Sociologist-priest Andrew Greeley, who characterized the stunt as "tasteless," had an explanation for the nonchalance: "Popes have been attacked down through the ages by bishops, archbishops, cardinals and even saints. . . . (Catholics are) not fundamentalists. We don't, at this stage of our development in American society, feel the need for heavy fussing about and protesting over things." Yet, some Catholics and conservatives were still fuming Thursday. Eric Bower, former executive director of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, runs a telephone hotline called the Conservative Network News. His latest message on it included comments about the O'Connor stunt. "Can you imagine any other religion sitting still for an attack on their leader like the Catholic community apparently has?" he said. "If someone tore up a picture of Martin Luther King there'd be rioting in the streets," said William Kelly, chairman of the PAC for Middle America in Oak Lawn. "To see that kind of anti-Catholic bigotry live on network television, we hear a lot about hate crimes, in my opinion that was a hate crime." Nielsen ratings indicated the show was tuned in by 417,000 households, or 31 percent of the sets in use, in the Chicago area Saturday night. To all who called to protest, WMAQ was conveying a statement prepared by NBC: "The incident involving Sinead O'Connor on 'Saturday Night Live' was a spontaneous act. NBC had no knowledge of what she was going to do. Had we known, NBC would not have permitted it. NBC is outraged and offended by her act. We apologize to viewers who share our reaction." Responding to complaints about his column, Roeper said, "I stand by my column, which was not an endorsement of Sinead O'Connor's opinions but a critique of her actions as provocative television. I'm Irish and Catholic myself, and while I don't endorse all of O'Connor's beliefs, I wholeheartedly support her right to express those beliefs. That's what this country is all about." The controversy appeared to have no effect on the sales of O'Connor's latest album, "Am I Not Your Girl?" which has shown no signs of duplicating the success of her first two albums. "I haven't heard a single word about it," said Phil Meyers, record sales manager of Tower Records on Clark Street. "It's selling just like it was before. Her fans are buying it, but she's not reaching a new audience, probably because it isn't a very good album."