THE APOSTOLATE OF THE LAITY FULFILLED BY AN AMERICAN CATHOLIC IN THE MEDIA
by Maggie Helgeland
“Are you a liberal Catholic or a Conservative Catholic?” “I’m a Colbert Catholic,” a meme reads, referring to the relationship between the political stance and religious beliefs held by comedian, Catholic, and The Late Show host Stephen Colbert. Colbert, a native of the East Coast, is no stranger to Catholic stereotypes, nor is he unfamiliar with the gravity of traumatic suffering. He comes from a Catholic family with eleven children—Colbert being the youngest—all with religiously-inspired names. Growing up, he attended Catholic school, and when he was ten years old, he suffered the loss of his father and two brothers closest to him in age in a plane crash.[i] The now-host of a late-night television show studied theater in college, after initially intending to study philosophy. Colbert joined a travelling comedy troupe and later starred in sketch comedy shows Exit 57 and Strangers with Candy. Adopting the persona of an ultra-conservative news anchor, Stephen Colbert made appearances on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as a satirical character, which landed him his own show utilizing the same gimmick. The Colbert Report aired on Comedy Central for nearly a decade and won several awards for Colbert’s ongoing parody of right-wing news show hosts. After the final taping of The Colbert Report in December 2014, Stephen Colbert took over for the legendary David Letterman on The Late Show in late 2015.[ii]
To understand a prominent figure like Stephen Colbert, who claims to be “America’s Most Famous Catholic,”[iii] it is important to break down who he is, what message he’s conveying, how he’s conveying it, and to whom he’s conveying it. Colbert could be crowned with several titles—actor, comedian, TV show host, son, brother, husband, father; ultimately, Stephen Colbert is an entertainer who also happens to be Catholic, and his Catholic faith gives him plenty of comedic material to work with. As a comedian, Colbert’s job is to solicit laughs from an audience; however, The Late Show host’s motivation to make people laugh goes a bit deeper, perhaps, than others’. In an interview with Fr. James Martin, S.J.—the “Chaplain of Colbert Nation”—Colbert states, “You can’t laugh and be afraid at the same time.”[iv] Colbert wants to bring joy to others as a sort of catharsis, and he does so by poking fun at the political divide among Catholics in America. He uses his comedic late-night television platform to neither catechize nor evangelize, but to entertain with his own flare, making viewers groan and cringe in some moments and laugh hysterically in others. Night owls and YouTube trolls fall into Colbert’s general audience, but the comedian seems to be aiming his content at those who would best understand his political and religious “inside jokes.”
Perhaps to further the overall understanding of Stephen Colbert as a noteworthy Catholic figure in America today, there exists a need to compare him to other Catholic night show hosts. Stephen Colbert isn’t the only Catholic to hold a late-night television timeslot. Among the ranks are The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, the presenter on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (Jimmy Kimmel), as well as late-night talk show host, Conan O’Brien—all of whom have varying levels of engagement with the Catholic faith. On one episode of The Tonight Show, Fallon shared stories with musician Jack White of altar boy shenanigans[v] and, in an interview with NPR, divulged that he had loved the Mass and, at one point, wanted to be a priest.[vi] During that same interview, however, Jimmy Fallon, when asked if he still goes to Mass, answered, “I tried to go back,” finishing that part of the conversation by saying he misses the old Mass without all the band music and hand-holding. Kimmel, meanwhile, in a Twitter fight with an Alabama man running for office, articulated his completion of the sacraments of initiation, claimed one of his closest friends is a priest, and, at a different point in time, defended good priests from being thrown into the same categories as the abusive ones.[vii] It is hard to determine if he could currently be considered a “practicing Catholic.” Finally, O’Brien, in an interview with Rolling Stone, discussed Catholic guilt and identified himself as “an incredibly uptight Irish Catholic boy.”[viii] At one point, Conan O’Brien performed a bit that involved his quoting of Canon Law. Colbert’s comedic stunts often stem from his Catholic beliefs, whereas, for his Catholic colleagues, Catholicism seems to be thrown into the conversation when the topic at hand calls for it.[ix]
It is no surprise, however, that many Catholics, particularly those identifying on the more conservative side of the spectrum, would lump Colbert in with the rest of the night show hosts, as being a “cafeteria Catholic”—a Catholic who “‘selectively values’ certain theologies and traditions.”[x] Certainly, taking Stephen Colbert at face-value would give many conservative Catholics cause for concern. For eleven seasons of The Colbert Report, Colbert’s character parodied right-wing news pundits while also judging “contemporary culture on God’s behalf”[xi]—bits that conservative Catholics likely found offensive if not heretical. A survey polling a little over 2,000 Americans in March of 2019 ranked Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel in a tie as the “most liberal” late-night hosts.[xii] And it would be remiss to forget the aforementioned “Chaplain of Colbert Nation,” Fr. James Martin, S.J., who is notorious for his not-so-orthodox dialogue regarding Church teaching on same-sex marriage and the like. There is no denying that Stephen Colbert leans more to the left when engaging in politics; however, there is undoubtedly more to Colbert than meets the eye, particularly in when delving into his Catholic faith.
Colbert, though potentially a more notably Catholic late-show host than his fellow nighttime comics, doesn’t quite warrant the titles of “catechist” nor “evangelist,” at least explicitly on his television show. Household names in the Catholic media world that can accurately be labeled as “catechist” and “evangelist” are Fr. Mike Schmitz and Bishop Robert Barron, respectively. Schmitz, the Newman center chaplain at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, is the poster boy for catechetical videos broadcast on the Ascension Presents YouTube channel. Fr. Mike uses this medium to teach on topics relevant to the audience his messages are geared toward: those in and around college age. His dreamy eyes and winning smile surely make it easier to stomach whatever catechesis he is presenting—anything from the transgender issue to getting a tattoo. Barron, the auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, on the other hand, evangelizes through beauty, via YouTube, social media, a bestselling video series, and more. Barron’s aim appears to be to draw those who are already Catholic deeper into the richness of the ancient faith. In their own ways, Colbert, Schmitz, and Barron all have a fan following. People consume their content regularly because they have been impacted by it in some way—they find it hilarious, informative, or transformative. These three also possess dynamic demeanors, which allow each of them to get their points across in methods that are effective to the audiences they are catering to—though these audiences may be altogether different from one another.
If Stephen Colbert isn’t a televangelist but operates from a Catholic perspective evidently more-so than the average late-show host, what is it, exactly, that Colbert is doing? The short answer: he’s an entertainer. He uses his gifts of acting and quick wit, along with his unmistakable intelligence, to make people laugh. Stephanie Brehm, author of America’s Most Famous Catholic (According to Himself)—an analysis of Stephen Colbert—affirms, “his job is to entertain. While Colbert Catholicism entertains, at the same time Colbert also intellectually dissects and presents certain religious activities, beliefs, and identities as a Catholic and through his own moral, theological, and religious lens.”[xiii] The efficacy of Colbert’s attempts to entertain can easily be seen in the numbers. Holding an average of 3.46 million viewers, The Late Show triumphed in viewership over other late night television shows during the 2019-2020 broadcast season for the fourth year in a row.[xiv] To take the stage frequently with such a vast audience comes with great influential power. Surely, a conservative Catholic’s main concern with Colbert must be how he portrays the Church and the faith in the media to the public, particularly because he reaches a great multitude and presents himself with an air of doctrinal authority.
But what if he is using his influence to work toward a greater good? What if Stephen Colbert, a Catholic layman, uses his entertainment media to build up the Kingdom of God, one laugh at a time? Brehm writes of Colbert, “His satire challenges and criticizes aspects of Catholicism but still affirms institutional authorities in the Catholic Church,”[xv] and later, “…he mocks not religion but how people use religion.”[xvi] Chapter One of the Second Vatican Council’s decree on the apostolate of the laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem, reads, “In the Church there is a diversity of ministry but a oneness of mission…Since the laity, in accordance with their state of life, live in the midst of the world and its concerns, they are called by God to exercise their apostolate in the world like leaven, with the ardor of the spirit of Christ.”[xvii] Colbert works in show business in New York City with celebrities galore. He is in the midst of paganism simply by showing up to work each day but is unafraid to claim his Catholic faith and unashamed to share it, either in comedic bits or vulnerable conversations, taped for all to see. The comedian claims he “exists to ‘know God, love God, serve God, that we might be happy with each other in this world and with Him in the next.’”[xviii] When opening up about the death of his father and two brothers, and the great anguish that caused him and his mother, Colbert “said he would be ‘ungrateful not to take everything with gratitude.’” Brehm asserts that “Colbert’s theology combines suffering and joy; in fact, he claims that ‘our sorrow is inseparable from our joy.’ ‘Joy,’ in this sense, refers to humor, mirth, and laughter. In his office, the comedian had a note taped to his computer featuring the quote ‘Joy is the most infallible sign of the existence of God.’”[xviii] By virtue of being a member of the laity, Colbert, just like the rest of us, has been charged to go into the world and preach the Gospel in contexts out-of-reach for priests and religious. It just so happens that he does so by sharing the Christian joy with the viewers and guest stars of a popular late-night talk show (though he also taught CCD for a stint[xix]). Apostolicam Actuositatem declares, “Our own times require of the laity no less zeal; in fact, modern conditions demand that their apostolate be broadened and intensified.”[xvii] Colbert does precisely that through his work as a comic and television show host.
Ultimately, in knowing the man behind the satire, right-wing Catholic critics ought to appreciate what Stephen Colbert is doing—using his God-given talents to entertain and bring joy to an audience—without attempting to make him fit into a conservative Catholic mold. The aforementioned “Colbert Catholic” meme
…forces a choice upon the viewer. You are either/or; there is no in-between. But the meme creator has found a different path, a way that both invalidates the line between liberal and conservative and extends outside that binary. This brand of Catholicism pushes against the boundaries of conservative Catholic orthodoxy and liberal or ex-Catholic identity.[xvi]
Celebrity status and political views aside, Stephen Colbert is a baptized Catholic, but this doesn’t mean he is immune to error in his “apostolate.” In an interview on an HBO talk show, Bill Maher shot at Colbert, “I thought you were a practicing Catholic,” and Colbert shot back, “I am! Doesn’t mean I’m good at it!”[ix] Colbert is a sinner in need of a Savior, just like the rest of us, but he isn’t oblivious to the eternal realities at hand. Through his comedic efforts, Colbert is responding to the call to the laity put forth by the Second Vatican Council, serving the Body of Christ via his own humorous path. Who, then, shall be the judge of this man’s authentic or faux faithfulness to Holy Mother Church?
[i] Jordan Zakarin, "Stephen Colbert: The Tragic Plane Crash That Changed His Life," Biography.com, October 28, 2020, accessed March 26, 2021, https://www.biography.com/news/stephen-colbert-father-brothers-plane-crash)
[ii] "Stephen Colbert," Biography.com, April 14, 2021, accessed March 26, 2021, https://www.biography.com/personality/stephen-colbert)
[iii] Stephanie N. Brehm, America’s Most Famous Catholic (according to Himself): Stephen Colbert and American Religion in the Twenty-first Century (New York: Fordham University Press, 2019), 7)
[iv] Americamag, YouTube, March 02, 2015, accessed March 26, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-zxn-YGUI4)
[v] YouTube, April 13, 2018, accessed April 15, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2ayzIsy8m8)
[vi] "Bad Liturgy Is Not A Victimless Crime. Just Ask Jimmy Fallon.," CatholicVote, February 22, 2014, accessed April 15, 2021, https://www.catholicvote.org/bad-liturgy-is-not-a-victimless-crime-just-ask-jimmy-fallon/)
[vii] ChurchPOP Editor, "Jimmy Kimmel Defends His Catholic Faith Against Attack from Roy Moore," ChurchPOP, December 07, 2017, accessed April 15, 2021, https://www.churchpop.com/2017/12/07/jimmy-kimmel-defends-his-catholic-faith-against-attack-from-roy-moore/)
[viii] Patrick Doyle, "The Last Word: Conan O'Brien on Catholicism, 'The Simpsons' and Life As Late Night's Elder Statesman," Rolling Stone, January 21, 2019, accessed April 15, 2021, https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/conan-obrien-late-night-simpsons-catholicism-780706/)
[ix] Kurt Jensen, "Stephen Colbert Brings His Catholicism to TV Masses," National Catholic Reporter, March 03, 2016, accessed April 17, 2021, https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/media-notebook-stephen-colbert-brings-his-catholicism-tv-masses)
[x] Stephanie N. Brehm, America’s Most Famous Catholic (according to Himself): Stephen Colbert and American Religion in the Twenty-first Century (New York: Fordham University Press, 2019), 8)
[xi] Stephanie N. Brehm, America’s Most Famous Catholic (according to Himself): Stephen Colbert and American Religion in the Twenty-first Century (New York: Fordham University Press, 2019), 20)
[xii] Erik Hayden, "Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Viewed as Most Liberal Late-Night Hosts, Poll Finds," The Hollywood Reporter, March 19, 2019, accessed April 15, 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/stephen-colbert-jimmy-kimmel-viewed-as-liberal-late-night-hosts-poll-finds-1195174)
[xiii] Stephanie N. Brehm, America’s Most Famous Catholic (according to Himself): Stephen Colbert and American Religion in the Twenty-first Century (New York: Fordham University Press, 2019), 117)
[xiv] Peter White, "Late-Night Laughs: Inside The Ratings Battle Among Colbert, Kimmel & Fallon," Deadline, January 16, 2021, accessed April 15, 2021, https://deadline.com/2021/01/ratings-battle-between-colbert-kimmel-fallon-late-show-tonight-show-1234674794/)
[xv] Stephanie N. Brehm, America’s Most Famous Catholic (according to Himself): Stephen Colbert and American Religion in the Twenty-first Century (New York: Fordham University Press, 2019), 110)
[xvi] Stephanie N. Brehm, America’s Most Famous Catholic (according to Himself): Stephen Colbert and American Religion in the Twenty-first Century (New York: Fordham University Press, 2019), 112-113)
[xvii] Paul VI, Apostolicam Actuositatem, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, par. 1 & 2, November 18, 1965, accessed February 05, 2021, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651118_apostolicam-actuositatem_en.html)
[xviii] Stephanie N. Brehm, America’s Most Famous Catholic (according to Himself): Stephen Colbert and American Religion in the Twenty-first Century (New York: Fordham University Press, 2019), 115-116)
[xix] Frank Ryan, "Before 'Late Show,' Stephen Colbert Taught Sunday School," New York Post, September 06, 2015, accessed April 17, 2021, https://nypost.com/2015/09/06/before-late-show-stephen-colbert-taught-sunday-school/)