As a veteran classroom clown who has long felt that the power of comedy is underestimated, I was ecstatic when I heard that Pope Francis had invited more than 100 comedians to an audience at the Vatican.
Happy is the man who creates laughter, I thought. And does he know what he is doing?
Guests included big name comedians such as Stephen Colbert, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, Jim Gaffigan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tig Notaro, Mike Birbiglia, Kathleen Madigan and David Sedaris.
It turns out Pope Francis is also a big believer in the power of comedy, praising its power to bring about a more empathetic and compassionate world.
Irony is a central element of humor, he noted at another meeting with artists in the Sistine Chapel last year, praising their ability to “dream of new versions of the world” and to bring them to life, often “with irony.” Irony is a great virtue.
In this latest session with the comedians, the Pope went a step further, assuring them that God loves a good joke, even if it comes at his own expense. The Pope told the comedians that they need not worry about being too irreverent, a constant fear of those employed to make us laugh.
“You can laugh at God…it’s not blasphemy,” he said. “If you can bring an intelligent smile to the lips of just one person in your audience, God will smile too.”
Indeed, having read his translated remarks, I agreed, and also found myself pensively wondering what George Carlin would think of this gathering.
Carlin, who died in 2008, was a comedy superstar who rose to fame in the 1960s and was known as “the doyen of counterculture comedians.” He was an often unflinching critic of conventions of all kinds, including religion and politics, and his words seared and often inflamed.
“I used to be an Irish Catholic,” he says in the gentle lyrics of his best-selling album “Class Clown.” “Now I’m an American, you know, grow up.”
Carlin was a controversial figure, and one of his speeches was the subject of a Supreme Court decision in 1978. His memorable “Seven Words You Should Never Say on Television (or in a Home Newspaper)” would not cause a fuss today, but in the 1970s it shocked many, as it was intended to do.
The Pope has praised cartoons for their power to bring people together by making us laugh at ourselves, and his goodwill towards his encounter with the cartoon was not shaken by such shock.
“In a time of so much bad news, you are calling out abuses of power, giving voice to forgotten situations, highlighting abuses of power and calling out inappropriate behavior,” Francis told the comedians, who he praised for their ability to “make people laugh, make them smile and make them think critically.”
I like that about comedy too.
Of course, some critics of the Catholic Church think that entertainers shouldn’t visit the head of an organization they consider homophobic or sexist, but that’s a different kind of critical thinking, and we must respect those who turn down the opportunity to meet with the Pope for such reasons.
But Francis’s meeting at least recalled the prayer of St. Thomas More, who was likely not the least bit amused when he was beheaded by Henry VIII. More’s “prayer of good humor” is said to have been recited regularly by the pope for 40 years.
“Do you know that prayer? You should know it,” he told the comedians.
Having looked into it, I agree that it contains wisdom that should be widely shared and remembered.
Briefly, it starts like this:
“Lord, give me good digestion and food to digest. Give me a healthy body and the good moods I need to maintain it.”
And finally, it concludes with this:
“Lord, give me a sense of humor.
“To be able to joke, to find a little joy in life,
And then being able to share it with other people.”
Amen.
Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com
