This fifth week of Lent was a big week in late-night entertainment. So in case you were too busy checking Twitter for the latest news, this is your Weekly Roundup.
First, the news that is has the world all abuzz. Famous funny Catholic Stephen Colbert has signed a contract with CBS to succeed David Letterman as host of ‘The Late Show.’ In his statements on the matter, Colbert has indicated that he will be retiring his “Stephen Colbert” character. “Simply being a guest on David Letterman’s show has been a highlight of my career,” he said. “I never dreamed that I would follow in his footsteps, though everyone in late night follows Dave’s lead. I’m thrilled and grateful that CBS chose me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go grind a gap in my front teeth.”
In history news, a bit of (very old) papyrus has been confirmed as “authentic,” despite the insistence from certain groups that it was a modern forgery. The papyrus contains fragments of what has been called “The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife,”and naturally has caused all kinds of controversy. Harvard Biblical scholar Karen King has stressed that the fragment does not prove that Jesus was married, and she says the text is not in fact focused on that issue.
In adorable little baby news, an archbishop in Argentina approved the baptism of a baby. The news in this is that the baby’s parents are a lesbian couple. Same-sex marriage became legal in Argentina, Pope Francis’ home country, in 2010.
This week marked the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. President Obama paid tribute to the act and to the president who passed it, even as many people think that it would be impossible to pass the act today.
The Senate Intelligence Committee voted to declassify 480-page summary of a more than 6,000-page report on the United States’ use of “enhanced interrogation” in the wake of 9/11. See Scott Alessi’s comments about how Americans feel about that here.
And now for the Papal rapid fire roundup:
This week in Pope Francis news:
- He is not in favor of human trafficking.
- He is in favor of bank reform.
- He asked forgiveness.
- There really is no one quite like him.
That’s all for now. Hope you have some sunshine wherever you are this weekend. If you do happen to be trapped inside, remember to take our survey about Lent, or our other survey about the minimum wage.
