Irish songbird Sinead O’Connor is persisting in her war against the powers that be at the Vatican, starting with her old friend, the Pope.

O’Connor appeared on PBS News Hour, hosted by Jim Lehrer, last week to once again demand that Pope Benedict and his fellow leaders resign over the clerical abuse scandals that have rocked the church throughout the world, particularly in Ireland.

“I want the entire of the regime to go. The entire of the top echelons of the Vatican should be fired, every single one of them,” O’Connor said.

“There should be a criminal investigation of the Vatican, criminal investigation of the pope. He should stand down. The rest should be fired and face prosecution.”

Sinead also recently appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show via satellite to affirm her faith in the Catholic Church – except for the people who are running it.

“I feel the Holy Spirit is being held hostage by the people who are presently running the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is full of beautiful people, men and women, you know, who have given up their whole lives, who serve human beings,” she said.

“But those people also are being betrayed by the people who are running the church."