Pope Francis to meet prominent comedians in the Vatican

Deborah Castellano Lubov

Pope Francis will meet famous comedians at the Vatican on Friday June 14, the Holy See press room announced on Saturday.

The audience, organized jointly by the Dicastery of Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Communication of the Vatican, with more than 100 presenters, will take place at the Apostolic Palace at 8:30 a.m. and aims to “establish a link” between the Catholic Church and such artists, the press release notes.

Promote joy, peace and hope

The upcoming meeting, he notes, aims to “celebrate the beauty of human diversity… (and) promote a message of peace, love and solidarity.” It “promises to be a moment of meaningful intercultural dialogue and sharing of joy and hope.”

Well-known names such as Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Conan O'Brien, Whoopi Goldberg and Chris Rock are expected to be among the participating American comedians.

Meanwhile, comedians from around the world, including the UK and Ireland, will be in attendance on Friday, with the largest group – two-thirds of participants – coming from Italy.

“Lord, give me a sense of humor”

The statement recalled Pope Francis during an interview with the Italian television channel TV2000 when he says he prays daily in the words of St. Thomas More, asking the Lord to grant him a sense of humor.

The Holy Father has in the past recognized the power of the art of comedy to contribute to a more empathetic and sympathetic world; and had observed, during his meeting in June 2023 with artists in the Sistine Chapel, that after all Scripture itself is rich in moments of irony.

On this occasion, the Pope also expressed to the artists gathered under Michelangelo's frescoes his conviction that humorists, including actors, artists, designers and writers, have “the capacity to imagine new versions of world” and often do. with irony, which is a wonderful virtue. »

The full list of artists participating in the event can be viewed below.

LIST OF PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

ARGENTINA
1. Malena Guinzburg

BRAZIL
1. Fabio Porchat
2. Cristiane Werson

COLOMBIA
1. Paula Arcila
2. Liss Pereira
3. Maribel Trujillo Botello

FRANCE
1. Redouane Bougheraba
2. François Cluzet
3. Manu Payet

GERMANY
1. Melt the Kaptan
2. Annette Frier
3. Michael Mittermeier
4. Up to Reiners
5. Torsten Sträter

IRELAND
1. Ardal O’Hanlon
2. Tommy Tiernan
3. Patrick Kielty

ITALY
1. Max Angioni
2. Lino Banfi
3. Federico Basso
4. Stefano Belisari (Elio)
5. Alessandro Bergonzoni
6. Don Giovanni Berti (Gioba)
7. Enrico Bertolino
8. Enrico Beruschi
9. Alessandro Besentini
10. Alexandre Betti
11. Luca Bizzarri
12. Massimo Boldi
13. Luca Bonafé
14. Enrico Brignano
15. Jerry Cala
16. Roberta Calcagno Baldini
17. Gabriele Cirilli
18. Raúl Cremona
19. Geppi Cucciari
20. Pio D’Antino
21. Gianluca De Angelis
22. Cristian De Sica
23. Maria Di Biase
24. Pierfrancesco Diliberto
25. Emmanuela Fanelli
26. Alberto Ferrari
27. Maurizio Ferrini
28. Nino Frassica
29. Andrea Fratellini
30. Giuseppe Giacobazzi
31. Gene Gnocchi
32. Valerie Graci
33. Amédée Grieco
34. Catherine Guzzanti
35. Paolo Kessisoglu
36. Paul Labati
37. Maurizio Lastrico
38. Roberto Lipari
39. Luciana Littizzetto
40. Brenda Lodigiani
41. Valerio Lundini
42. Andy Luotto
43. Leonard Manera
44. Marco Marzocca
45. Paul Migone
46. ​​Elia Morra (Elianto)
47. Corrado Nuzzo
48. Silvio Orlando
49. Antonio Ornano
50. Enzo Paci
51. Mauro Pallotta (Maupal)
52. Davide Paniate
53. Cochi Ponzoni
54. Giacomo Poretti
55. Saverio Raimondo
56. Luca Ravenna
57. Riccardo Rossi
58. Marie Sarnataro
59. Giovanni Scifoni
60. Mario Simonotti
61. Giovanni Storti
62. Carlo Verdone
63. Giovanni Vernia
64. Francesco Villa
65. Michele Foresta
66. Giorgio Panariello
67. Michele La Ginestra

MEXICO
1. Florinda Meza Garcia
2. Chumel Torres

POLAND
1. Dorota Loskot-Cichocka

PORTUGAL
1. Ricardo de Araujo Pereira
2. Joana Marques
3. Maria Rueff

UNITED KINGDOM
1. Ian Hislop
2. Stephen Marchand

SPAIN
1. Cristina Castano
2. Lamas Belen Cuesta
3. Sara Escudero Rodriguez
4. Victoria Martin

UNITED STATES
1.Stephen Colbert
2. Jimmy Fallon
3. Jim Gaffigan
4. Whoopi Goldberg
5. James Martin
6. Tig Notaro
7. Chris Rock
8. Conan O'Brien

SWISS
1. Hazel Brugger

TIMOR-LESTE
1. Rivelino Barro Gonçalves