The comedian Stephen Colbert and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York bantered onstage Friday night before 3,000 cheering, stomping, chanting students at Fordham University, in what might have been the most successful Roman Catholic youth evangelization event since Pope John Paul II last appeared at World Youth Day.
The evening was billed as an opportunity to hear two Catholic celebrities discuss how joy and humor infuse their spiritual lives.
They both delivered, with surprises and zingers that began the moment the two walked onstage.
Mr Colbert went to shake Cardinal Dolan’s hand, but the cardinal took Mr Colbert’s hand and kissed it — a disarming role reversal for a big prelate with a big job and a big ring.
Cardinal Dolan was introduced as a man who might one day be elected pope, to which he said, “If I am elected pope, which is probably the greatest gag all evening, I’ll be Stephen III.”
Cardinal Dolan introduced Mr Colbert’s wife, Evelyn, who was sitting in the audience, and brought her up to the stage. The cardinal put his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek, and when Mr Colbert feigned offense, the cardinal said, in a remark that brought down the house, “I can kiss your wife. You can’t kiss mine.” Continue reading