Pope Francis will meet with more than 100 international comedians on Friday, the Holy See said, citing Vatican News. The meeting will be attended by three Portuguese comedians: Maria Rufus, Ricardo Arajo Pereira and Joana Marquez.
Scheduled at 8:30 am at the Apostolic Palace, the event aims to “establish contact” between the Catholic Church and these artists. The meet aims to “celebrate the beauty of diversity and promote the message of peace, love and unity”.
In addition to Brazilians Fabio Borsad and Christian Verson, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, Whoopi Goldberg and Chris Rock will be some of the world’s most recognizable guests. Most of the comedians are from Italy.
The event is organized between the Dicastery for Culture and Education, led by Portuguese Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonza, and the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, led by Italian journalist Paolo Ruffini.
The statement, cited by Vatican News, recalls Pope Francis’ words in an old interview in which the head of the Catholic Church asked God to bless him with a “sense of humor.”
Check out the full list of guests:
Germany
Captain Meldem
Annette Fryer
Michael Mittermeyer
Up to the Rainiers
Torsten Strater
Argentina
Malena Ginsburg
Brazil
Fabio Borchat
Christian version
Colombia
Paula Arcila
Liz Pereira
Maribel Trujillo Botello
Spain
Christina Castano
Belen Cuesta Llamas
Sarah Escudero Rodriguez
Victoria Martin
America
Stephen Colbert
Jimmy Fallon
Jim Gaffigan
Hubby Goldberg
James Martin
Dick Notaro
Chris Rock
Conan O’Brien
France
Redoane Bougheraba
François Cloucet
Manu Payet
Ireland
Ardal O’Hanlon
Tommy Tiernan
Patrick Kielty
Italy
Max Angioni
Lino Bonfi
Federico Basso
Stefano Belisari
Alessandro Bergonzoni
Don Giovanni Berti
Enrico Bertolino
Enrico Peruchi
Alessandro Besendini
Alessandro Petty
Luca Bizzarri
Massimo Boldi
Luca Bonafay
Enrico Brignano
Jerry Gala
Roberta Calcagno Baldini
Gabriel Cyril
Raul Cremona
Geppi Cucciari
Pio D’Antino
Gianluca De Angelis
Christian de Sica
Maria de Bias
Pierfrancesco Diliberto
Emanuela Fanelli
Alberto Ferrari
Maurizio Ferrini
Nino Frasica
Andrea Fratellini
Giuseppe Giacobazzi
Jean Gnocchi
Valeria Gracie
Amedeo Grieco
Caterina Gussanti
Pavlo Kesisoglu
Paulo Lapati
Mauricio Lastrico
Roberto Lipari
Louisiana Litzetto
Brenda Lotigiani
Valerio Lundini
Andy Luto
Leonardo Manera
Marco Marzocca
Paolo Michonne
Elijah Mora
Corrado Nuzzo
Silvio Orlando
Antonio Ornano
Enzo moss
Mauro Pallotta
David Paniat
Kochi Ponzoni
Giacomo Boretti
Saverio Raimondo
Luca Ravenna
Riccardo Rossi
Mary Sarnatharo
Giovanni Siphoni
Mario Simonotti
Giovanni Storti
Carlo Verdone
Giovanni Vernia
Francesco Villa
Michael Foresta
Giorgio Panariello
Michael La Ginestra
Mexico
Florida Mesa Garcia
Sumel Torres
Poland
Dorota Loscott-Chichoca
Portugal
Ricardo Araújo Pereira
Joanna Marks
Maria Roof
UK
Ian Hislop
Stephen is a merchant
Switzerland
Hazel Brooker
East Timor
Rivelino Barro Gonsalves
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