Pope Francis hosted more than 100 comedians in Vatican City on Friday morning in an event in preparation for his meeting with President Joe Biden at the G7 later in the day.
The conclave of comedians included Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris Rock, Stephen Colbert and Conan O’Brien.
“They bring people together, because laughter is contagious,” the pontiff told the assembled group, adding that he has prayed for a good sense of humor for 40 years.
‘Although today communication often generates conflicts, we know how to bring together diverse and sometimes contrary realities. How much we need to learn from you!’ said the 87-year-old Pope.
The Vatican said the comedians were invited to “celebrate the beauty of human diversity” and that the pope “recognizes the significant impact that the art of comedy has on the world of contemporary culture.”
The audience with the comedians was organized by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Communication.
Jimmy Fallon greets Pope Francis
The comedians seemed very animated and excited to be there.
Goldberg and Louis-Dreyfus waved from the front row as the Pope entered the room.
Fallon entertained the crowd before the Pope arrived and was told to quickly take a seat as the pontiff approached.
Goldberg told Reuters last month that she had offered the Pope a cameo in ‘Sister Act 3,’ in which she will reprise her comic role as a singer who takes refuge in a convent and organizes a choir.
“He said he’d see what his time was like,” Goldberg said jokingly.
After delivering his speech, Francisco greeted all of the comedians individually, sharing laughter and jokes with several of them, including Rock, Fallon and Colbert, as he left the hearing room.
Later on Friday, the Pope will travel to Puglia to attend the G7 leaders’ summit. He is the first pontiff to address the G7 and will discuss setting stricter barriers to AI following the rise of generative artificial intelligence sparked by OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni invited Pope Francis to attend. She greeted him when he arrived in his PopeMobile.
Whoopi Goldberg offered the Pope a cameo in ‘Sister Act 3’
Conan O’Brien met with the Pope
The Pope takes a selfie with some comedians
Stephen Colbert was among the comedians present.
The Pope will hold a separate meeting with Biden at the summit, but it will be a private event behind closed doors.
The Pope will also meet with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as invited leaders from Algeria, Brazil, India, Kenya and Turkey. And he will sit down with G7 leaders Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Biden last met with the Pope in October 2021. Biden is the second Catholic president in US history.