VATICAN CITY. Pope Francis is set to welcome a distinguished group of international comedians to the Vatican on Friday, June 14, the Holy See Press Office announced on Saturday. Household names such as Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brien, Chris Rock, and Whoopi Goldberg will be among the attendees.
The audience, organized by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Communication, will take place in the Apostolic Palace at 8:30 a.m. More than 100 entertainers are expected to attend, with the event aimed at “establishing a link” between the Catholic Church and artists, according to the press release.
Promoting Joy, Peace, and Hope
The meeting 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,” the press release noted.
Famous comedians from the United States, including Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brien, Whoopi Goldberg, and Chris Rock, will be in attendance. Additionally, comedians from around the world, particularly from the UK, Ireland, and Italy, will be present, with Italians making up two-thirds of the participants.
‘Lord, Give Me a Sense of Humor’
The announcement recalled Pope Francis’s interview with the Italian TV channel TV2000, where he mentioned that he prays daily with the words of St. Thomas More, asking the Lord to grant him a sense of humor.
In the past, Pope Francis has recognized the power of comedy to foster empathy and sympathy. During a June 2023 encounter with artists in the Sistine Chapel, he observed that Scripture itself is rich in moments of irony. The Pope expressed his belief that humorists, including actors, artists, cartoonists, and writers, have “the ability to dream up new versions of the world,” often doing so “with irony, which is a wonderful virtue.”
Full List of Participating Comedians
Argentina
- Malena Guinzburg
Brazil
- Fabio Porchat
- Cristiane Werson
Colombia
- Paula Arcila
- Liss Pereira
- Maribel Trujillo Botello
France
- Redouane Bougheraba
- François Cluzet
- Manu Payet
Germany
- Meltem Kaptan
- Annette Frier
- Michael Mittermeier
- Till Reiners
- Torsten Sträter
Ireland
- Ardal O’Hanlon
- Tommy Tiernan
- Patrick Kielty
Italy
- Max Angioni
- Lino Banfi
- Federico Basso
- Stefano Belisari [Elio]
- Alessandro Bergonzoni
- Don Giovanni Berti [Gioba]
- Enrico Bertolino
- Enrico Beruschi
- Alessandro Besentini
- Alessandro Betti
- Luca Bizzarri
- Massimo Boldi
- Luca Bonafé
- Enrico Brignano
- Jerry Calà
- Roberta Calcagno Baldini
- Gabriele Cirilli
- Raul Cremona
- Geppi Cucciari
- Pio D’Antino
- Gianluca De Angelis
- Cristian De Sica
- Maria Di Biase
- Pierfrancesco Diliberto
- Emanuela Fanelli
- Alberto Ferrari
- Maurizio Ferrini
- Nino Frassica
- Andrea Fratellini
- Giuseppe Giacobazzi
- Gene Gnocchi
- Valeria Graci
- Amedeo Grieco
- Caterina Guzzanti
- Paolo Kessisoglu
- Paolo Labati
- Maurizio Lastrico
- Roberto Lipari
- Luciana Littizzetto
- Brenda Lodigiani
- Valerio Lundini
- Andy Luotto
- Leonardo Manera
- Marco Marzocca
- Paolo Migone
- Elia Morra [Elianto]
- Corrado Nuzzo
- Silvio Orlando
- Antonio Ornano
- Enzo Paci
- Mauro Pallotta [Maupal]
- Davide Paniate
- Cochi Ponzoni
- Giacomo Poretti
- Saverio Raimondo
- Luca Ravenna
- Riccardo Rossi
- Mary Sarnataro
- Giovanni Scifoni
- Mario Simonotti
- Giovanni Storti
- Carlo Verdone
- Giovanni Vernia
- Francesco Villa
- Michele Foresta
- Giorgio Panariello
- Michele La Ginestra
Mexico
- Florinda Meza García
- Chumel Torres
Poland
- Dorota Łoskot-Cichocka
Portugal
- Ricardo de Araujo Pereira
- Joana Marques
- Maria Rueff
United Kingdom
- Ian Hislop
- Stephen Merchant
Spain
- Cristina Castaño
- Belen Cuesta Llamas
- Sara Escudero Rodriguez
- Victoria Martin
United States
- Stephen Colbert
- Jimmy Fallon
- Jim Gaffigan
- Whoopi Goldberg
- James Martin
- Tig Notaro
- Chris Rock
- Conan O’Brien
Switzerland
- Hazel Brugger
Timor Leste
- Rivelino Barro Gonçalves
The event is poised to be a unique and joyous occasion, fostering a significant cultural exchange and spreading a message of hope and unity through the universal language of laughter.
With inputs from the Vatican News
Paraluman P. Funtanilla
Paraluman P. Funtanilla is Tutubi News Magazine's Marketing Specialist and is a Contributing Editor. She finished her degree in Communication Arts in De La Salle Lipa. She has worked as a Digital Marketer for start-up businesses and small business spaces for the past two years. She has earned certificates from Coursera on Brand Management: Aligning Business Brand and Behavior and Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content. She also worked with Asia Express Romania TV Show.
