Stephen Colbert has offered Pope Francis a most precious gift: friendship.
On Thursday’s episode of “The Late Show,” Colbert expressed sadness over a recent interview with the pontiff in which he claimed many casual acquaintances are claiming to be his friends now that he is the head of the Catholic Church.
“That’s awful,” Colbert said. “Francis is surrounded by a bunch of so-called friends he doesn’t even know. I told him not to join Taylor Swift‘s girl squad.”
So Colbert decided to let Pope Francis know that he is willing to be his friend through a special song, which was a riff on James Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend.”
Colbert even managed to slip in a reference to Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who became the first Pope to resign in over 500 years.