Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Stephen Colbert to Star in Catholic Comedy Slam. | Colbert News Hub

So who is the funniest Catholic in the Western world: New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan or Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert?

It’s a tough call for anyone who has followed either man’s impressive record of rim shots, but we may finally get an answer to that urgent question when the cardinal and the comedian team up for a panel on faith and humor this September at Fordham University in the Bronx, N.Y.

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“I’m looking forward to a great conversation with a terrific theologian and a gifted comedian. They are both,” quipped the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and popular author. Martin will be moderating the Sept. 14 event, titled “The Cardinal and Colbert: Humor, Joy, and the Spiritual Life.”

© Scott Gries | Comedy Central

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“This is just what the Catholic Church needs,” said Martin, who has been on “The Colbert Report” so many times that he is called the official chaplain of the Emmy-winning news parody program. “Being joyful does not mean that you overlook suffering or pain or even scandal.”

Martin noted that the Book of Ecclesiastes says that there is a time to mourn and a time to laugh. “In the Catholic Church we tend to mourn more than we tend to laugh. This panel is trying to help restore the balance.”

Colbert is a lifelong Catholic whose spirituality was shaped in part by the loss of his father and two of his brothers in a plane crash when he was 10. The comedian credits his mother with imbuing him with a deep faith through all the trials.

“She taught me to be grateful for my life regardless of what that entailed, and that’s directly related to the image of Christ on the cross and the example of sacrifice that he gave us,” Colbert told The New York Times earlier this year.

“What she taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain — it’s that the pain is actually a gift. What’s the option? God doesn’t really give you another choice.”

Full Article: Religion News Service.

(Thanks to Carolyn for the Tip!)