Commentary: We will miss the divine and very human ministry of Stephen Colbert
This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
Over his long (and still ongoing) career, Stephen Colbert has been many things to many people: comedian, satirist, political gadfly, cultural provocateur and, for the last 11 years, host of the No.1 late show, CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”For me, the soon-to-be-former late-night host has also been the single greatest argument for married Catholic clergy.Colbert has never mentioned a desire to be a priest, but for an often struggling Catholic such as myself, there have been more than a few times when, watching him wield his signature blend of scathing yet deeply human theology, it was tough not to wonder, wistfully, what Mass would be like if he were delivering the sermons.
Though in his chosen profession, Colbert has undoubtedly had a far greater impact, ministering to millions in a way few, if any, cultural figures who exist outside the religious sphere have ever done.For more than two decades, he has offered a modern vision of active and informed faith, while still being culturally grounded, politically fearless and funny as hell.There’s no denying that as a comedian, he is often unkind.
When Fox News CEO Roger Ailes resigned following a cascade of sexual harassment charges, Colbert referred to him as a “Jabba the Hutt cosplayer,” which wasn’t really the point, and a generally reviled joke about President Trump’s mouth being Vladimir Putin’s “c— holster” was acknowledged by Colbert as being “cruder than it needed to be.” Television Our writers shared their favorite moments on the late-night talk show, which include lighthearted and serious interviews about grief, faith and politics.But he has long taken the spiritual demand to speak truth to power seriously, and balanced it always with a belief in the power of forgiveness.When Paramount Global, which owns CBS, announced its infamous and unprecedented $16-million settlement with Trump o...