Pigeons? Why Pigeons?

MSNBC sez:

No one expects it to replace Alice in Wonderland or Cinderella, but the Vatican has turned to a talking pen and pigeons in a new cartoon movie to teach children about the life of the late Pope John Paul.

Why not, I don't know, doves or something like that? But pigeons? They just shit all over everything. And by the way, you can't seriously expect me to believe the Vatican doesn't expect this to fly off the shelves . . . especially in Poland. And surely they hope it will take over from Alice in Wonderland, a pedophile's book for and about the object of his desires? Who picked Alice in Wonderland to mention in this article, anyway?

The archbishop in charge of Vatican publicity notes, "The idea was to present the human side of John Paul as the best way to bring him close [but not too close] to children and families." I guess the human side is as opposed to the superhuman side.