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Saturday, August 27, 2005

The Movement to canonize Michael Leunig

Muslim, Hindu, Chinese, African and Australian values

Now he won't like this - I know he won't. But I can't help it. It's been a long time comin' and out it will. I hereby launch to-day The Movement to canonize Michael Leunig. St Michael Leunig of the Pen that is mightier than the Sword. That's him. That's the new moniker.

In a world that has so many sectors spinning out of my understanding (I never did have much, if any, control), Michael Leunig is a shaft of God-given light penetrating a world which is losing colour at approximately the same speed as it gains chaos. At a time when OzPol is becoming strident, triumphal, and hell-bent on marginalization, Leunig gives us the alternative story.

I have heard that, historically, it was possible to declare a Saint by acclamation (bypassing the two miracles status) - so let's hear it for St Michael. Let's give him a golden halo around those greying curls. And when the iconographies are written and painted - please remember: he comes with a duck.