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Fr. James Martin, S.J., comedian Stephen Colbert, and Fr. Thomas Rosica in the offices of America magazine in New York in 2015.

ANALYSIS

(LifeSiteNews) – Late-night TV host Stephen Colbert recently tweeted an image of Jesus Christ with the text “Blessed are the vaccinated, for they may attend The Late Show. The image is not shown here, but can be found on Colbert’s Twitter feed.

Colbert is a professed Catholic and is the youngest of 11 children. He has spoken about his Catholic upbringing many times in interviews and on his show, and has expressed that the faith is important to him.

Since he finished his political satire show, The Colbert Report – a show that parodied conservatives – he has spoken frequently about how he personally views the Catholic faith. While stating on many occasions that it is important to him, he has not shown any reluctance in calling into questions dogmatic teachings.

In September 2015, Colbert appeared in an interview on the Canadian television network Salt and Light Media. Salt and Light is officially a Catholic network but has been known to promote liberal and leftist theological principles and has been a staunch defender of Pope Francis.

The former head of the network was Father Thomas Rosica, a Basilian. Rosica was outed as a serial plagiarist, having plagiarized everything from scholarly articles to ghost-written pieces that he wrote for Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet. Father Rosica eventually resigned from Salt and Light Media after the scandal became known on an international level.

Rosica interviewed Colbert in 2015 when Pope Francis visited the United States. The show that Father Rosica used to anchor was called “Witness,” but has since been taken down from the website and is no longer on YouTube. The episode page for the show that featured Colbert is still up, but without the video file.

In that interview, Colbert and the disgraced priest spoke about several topics, and many of the sentiments that Colbert uttered seemed to express sincere Catholic faith. Nonetheless, when discussing a meaningful experience at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Colbert stated that one of his most in-depth encounters with the Holy Eucharist took place at an Episcopalian (Anglican) service presided over by a priestess. Colbert expressed that the fact that woman was presiding over the service – it was not a Mass because the Church of England does not have valid orders – made him understand the universal nature of the Church.

Father Rosica did not correct Colbert on the grave error that was suggested and smiled when Colbert spoke of the experience. Colbert did not explicitly state that he believed the woman-led service was equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, but his statements did give that impression.

In 1907, Pope Saint Pius X condemned as a grave error the notion that the religion Christ established could be “adapted to different times and places.” In some cases, such as a funeral of a wedding of a non-Catholic, Catholics may witness a Protestant service, or speak to a Protestant group. However, participation in a sacred rite that denies the fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church is strictly prohibited. 

Colbert has also appeared in numerous interviews and videos with Father James Martin. In December 2018 while appearing on Martin’s show, the comedian accused supporters of pro-life former President Donald Trump and politicians who supported him as being “heretics against reality.” Colbert relayed that in Dante’s Inferno, heretics receive some of the worst punishments because they drag other people into hell. Martin agreed with Colbert’s sentiment and then suggested that it all stems to “Satan, who is the father of lies.”

It is likely that viewers came away with the impression that Father Martin and Colbert believed that Trump supporters – many of whom were supportive due to Trump’s pro-life messaging – were supporting the work of Satan and that hell was a deserved punishment for doing so.

Colbert’s relationship with Father Martin suggests that he is indifferent to the extreme harm that the Jesuit has done to the Catholic faithful by his promotion of erroneous and heretical ideas. Father Martin has routinely mocked the Church’s teaching on marriage and the nature of man and woman, and has even suggested that the Blessed Mother would support immoral behavior. Father Martin has even gone as far as suggesting that God the Father is a “her,” which is gravely offensive to all Christians.

Colbert’s recent sacrilegious internet meme is not the first time he has co-opted the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the purpose of advertising abortion-tainted COVD jabs. Last December, his show aired a short video of a cartoon Jesus telling Trump that his “birthday’s [Christmas] not that big a deal,” as the fictional Jesus stated he was “2020 years old.”

Christmas is of course a massive and majorly important feast for Christians, as it commemorates the moment when Jesus Christ was born the Blessed Virgin Mary at Bethlehem.

Trump was questioned by reporters in the video clip as to why he was having a restriction-free Christmas party. The offensive cartoon of Jesus Christ then went on to say, “just stay safe this year, but when I turn 2021 and there’s a vaccine, you’re going to have to put Jesus on a leash.” The sacrilege and blasphemy then escalated in the clip and the fictional Jesus suggested that he would partake in a host of lewd and drunken behavior at the 2021 Christmas party that would be permissible due to the vaccines that have used harvested infants in their production and testing.

When The Late Show reopened in the Ed Sullivan Theater in June, Colbert interviewed Jon Stewart, who claimed that because everyone present was vaccinated that he knew “we’re not going to get COVID.” By saying this, Stewart was spreading misinformation, as it has been proved that taking the jab does not stop your ability to spread COVID. Conversely, Steward insisted that the virus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, which was called a conspiracy by the mainstream for over a year.

Also in June, Colbert performed a dance-skit wherein he danced with a series of dancers dressed as abortion-tainted COVID jab needles, which was meant to encourage the audience to support and be thankful for the shots that are killing people and risk killing thousands of young children if administered to more young people.