Caetano, Porchat, Margareth Menezes: Remember famous people who were received by the Pope

Some Brazilian comedians had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis and exchanging some words with him a few months before his death, confirmed on Monday (21). Among them the humorists Fábio Porchat, Cocoa Protásio and Cris Wersom.

In June last year, about 200 comedy artists – actors, writers, writers and cartoonists – gathered at the Vatican for a ceremony that included people from 15 different countries.

At the time, Porchat said that the pontiff made a joke when referring to one of the most famous drinks in Brazil. “Is cachaça water?” He said about the brief chat with Francisco in an interview with Fantástico (Globo).

According to Porchat, the Pope in his speech spoke about the qualities of the professionals he found. “It’s wonderful, for the first time in history, the Pope meets comedians. His speech was very beautiful, saying that when a comedian can make a person laugh without humiliating, God also smiles.”

Cocoa Protásio published a series of images and videos on his social network of the meeting. She was thrilled to be ahead of the most important figure in Catholicism. At that moment, he took the opportunity to ask for a blessing in his wedding ring with photographer Janderosn Pires, with whom he was 12 years old. Both, however, separated months later. “Receiving this invitation was a great milestone in my professional and spiritual life,” he said.

Among the American names of that occasion, highlight to Whoopi Goldberg, star of the films “Change of Habit”; Stephen Colbert, host of one of the main talk shows on American TV; Jimmy Fallon, Jim Gaffigan, Conan O’Brien, Chris Rock, Tig Notaro and Julia Louis-Dreyfus of the “Seinfeld” and “Veep” series.

Italian Silvio Orlando, who played a cardinal in the series “The Young Pope”, was another guest. Florinda Meza, Dona Florinda of the series “Chaves”, was among the Mexican artists, as was actor Chume Torres.

In an interview with F5Father Arnaldo Rodrigues, CNBB Communication Advisor (National Conference of Bishops of Brazil), explained that the guest list was jointly elaborated between the dicker for culture and education and communication.

The dikings are organs within the Vatican dedicated to dealing with various subjects. Members of the two dickers of each country were able to suggest names, which were evaluated by cardinals who preside over each folder and sent to the Vatican.

Father Arnaldo himself indicated one of the names, Cocoa Protásio. “The cardinal who directs the dicker for culture asked me if I would have someone to indicate. I immediately indicated the name of Cocoa Protásio, which I know personally. In addition to being a Catholic, he has a great job in humor,” he said.

In September last year, it was the turn of the Minister of Culture, Margareth Menezes, to find the Pope during an official visit to Europe to discuss the bicentennial of Brazil-Vatican relations and the strengthening of cultural ties between Brazil and Italy.

“It was very special, the Pope has a great heart. We need to join forces also in the spiritual field, asking God to intervene in our favor,” Margareth told Vatican-Vatican News.

In 2023, while touring Europe, it was Caetano Veloso who met with the Pope. In the talk, the artist said he was concerned about violence in Bahia, his home state, and made a “request for relief” in the letter he handed over to the Pontiff.