Moment Father Ted icon meets Pope Francis and makes special request

FATHER Ted icon Ardal O’Hanlon came face to face with Pope Francis and made a special request.

The Irish actor, Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty and comedian Tommy Tiernan were among the 107 entertainers from 15 countries that were invited to the Vatican today for an audience with Pope Francis.

Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien and Chris Rock also attended the gathering at the Apostolic Palace at 8.30am on Friday.

The audience had been organised by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education and Dicastery for Communication.

The event was intended to “establish a link” between the Catholic Church and comic artists.

The Pope was in full spirits as he told the comedians how important they are in society and praised their ability to make people smile.

The 87-year-old said in his speech: “You have the power to spread serenity and smiles. You are among the few who can speak to very different people of different generations and cultural backgrounds.

“In your way, you unite people because laughter is contagious, it’s easier to make people laugh together than alone.”

He even told the A-listers that they can joke about God as he said: “You can also laugh at God, of course, and that’s not blasphemy. It can be done without offending the religious feelings of believers.

“Humour does not offend, humiliate, or put people down according to their flaws.”

The celebrities then lined up one-by-one to shake hands with the His Holiness.

When it got to Ardal’s turn, he took a moment to ask Pope Francis to bless something he had in his hands.

The Monaghan native looked very pleased as the Pope gave him a thumbs up after the greeting.

The invitation extended to the Irish stars could seem as an ironic turn of events for some.

Ardal is best known for his role as dim Father Dougal McGuire, who doesn’t have an understanding of Catholicism, and doesn’t even believe in God, in Father Ted.

The 58-year-old presented a documentary earlier this year about the crisis in the priesthood and the decline of the Irish clergy.

In the show, he stated: “I have renounced my god and my religion, yet I still ask a Catholic priest to come along and baptise my child.”

OUTRAGE PERFORMANCE

Patrick Kielty’s father John ‘Jack’ Kielty was murdered by the Ulster Freedom Fighters in 1988 during the Troubles.

He often speaks about the intersection of religion and politics in Northern Ireland in his standup and has advocated for abolishing segregated education in the North, to end sectarianism and tribalism there.

Tommy Tiernan, who starred as Gerry in Derry Girls, caused quite a stir when he appeared on the Late Late Show in 1997 with Gay Byrne and used a string of expletives about the Catholic Church in his comedic performance which mocked Christ’s crucifixion.

The sketch caused nationwide outrage and resulted in a whopping 300 complaints to the National Broadcaster.

Tiernan was even warned not to leave the RTE studio for several hours for his own safety.

However, in recent years Tommy has been open about his strong faith and spoke about attending Mass regularly.