Boycotting the Pope
1883
In this biting 1883 political cartoon from Puck magazine, Friedrich Graetz depicts a dramatic shift in loyalty among Irish Catholics. On the left, a neglected Pope Leo XIII sits with a bucket for 'Peter's Pence' and a basket of unsold 'Absolutions,' while the crowd ignores him. On the right, Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell sits on a throne wearing a papal tiara, eagerly receiving bags of money and foot-kisses from supporters who prefer his promise of 'Remission of Rents' over spiritual favors. It’s a satirical take on the Irish Land War, suggesting that the fight for land reform had become a new religion, effectively 'boycotting' the Pope—a clever play on the term coined just a few years earlier during the same conflict.