Sinead O'Connor has asked Pope Francis to present her with an official excommunication certificate, so she can use it to woo rappers for collaborations.
The outspoken Nothing Compares 2 U hitmaker, who ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II during a 1992 appearance on U.S. sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, has asked the current pontiff if he'll grant her a meeting when he visits her native Ireland next week and officially kick her out of the Catholic Church.
The singer was excommunicated by Pope Benedict XVI in 2013, but claims she has no proof.
"I have several times requested from the Vatican a certificate which I could proudly display to my grandchildren to prove that Ratzinger (Pope Benedict aka Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger) and his predecessor (Pope John Paul II) excommunicated me for being ordained," she writes in an open letter to Francis, obtained by Buzz.ie. "Can you please arrange it be brought with you on the plane and perhaps presented to me at Croke Park?"
She believes the official certificate will help her land studio time with Kanye West.
"All musicians covet the Parental Advisory Sticker - it's the coolest thing in the recording industry," she jokes. "But an excommunication certificate would make 2Pac (rapper Tupac Shakur) look like (easy listening Irish singer) Daniel O' Donnell.
"Maybe if they won't give me a certificate they'll at least brand me with a huge red letter. If I had a cert maybe Kanye West would make records with me... Rappers will hero worship me if I wave that s**T about in the studio."
O'Connor was excommunicated after she was ordained a priest by radical Tridentine bishop, Michael Cox, in 1999. She has also openly spoken about past abortions - a contravention of Canon Law.
She concludes her letter to Pope Francis by insisting she quite likes the latest pontiff, adding, "I actually like you. You’re funny. Very funny. You can make your pope robes vanish and be 'just a man' with your jokes."
But she won't be making an effort to go and see the Pope when he's in Ireland on 25 and 26 August, telling the Irish Daily Star, "I’m not going."
