Moral turpitude, with fries

—By Pam Squyres

| Sat Nov. 11, 2000 1:00 AM PST

Burger behemoth McDonald's is accustomed to dealing with charges that all those wrappers are bad for the environment and that its food is a nutritional nightmare. But who knew it was ungodly as well?

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Or un-Catholic, anyway. This week, the GUARDIAN (UK) reports, a Catholic newspaper in Italy made trouble for the international fast-food giant, saying that scarfing a Big Mac while you drive satisfies only yourself, not others -- overlooking the communal, sacramental nature of food. Consumption of fast food, said the theology lecturer who wrote the story, is better suited to the Lutheran philosophy of an individual relationship between man and God.

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It's only one of many roadblocks McDonald's has faced in Italy. Last month thousands of demonstrators protested the burger chain as a symbol of Americanization, chanting "Better a day of tortellini than 100 days of hamburgers."

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