A national restaurant chain, Buca di Beppo, has ordered its 96 restaurants to remove all statuary busts of the pope from its dining areas.
The chain's management in Minneapolis called all of its location to remove the pope's bust "due to respect," the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Thursday.
Many of the busts bore a likeness to Pope John Paul II, who died last week. One of them was located in a dining area known as the Pope's Room in the Fort Lauderdale restaurant.
It is now located on a shelf in a small office.
"It's been the most rowdy room. It was always in good fun," said waiter Vinny Caggiano, a Catholic, of the Pope's Room.
In the restaurant's five-year history, the owners have been offered as much as $1,000 for the bust and many people want to take their photograph with it.
Restaurant Manager Ramona Lupulescu said the bust will be replaced in two weeks by a "generic pope."
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
