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Colbert the Catechist

Saint Stephen of Comedy Central takes on Garry Wills, a terrific and maddening writer and historian — and confessed Catholic — who may be veering perilously close to caricature these days. He has a new book out, “Why Priests? A Failed Tradition,” and an Op-Ed in the New York Times arguing that Catholics who look with hope for change from a new pope are like Charlie Brown kicking the football — Lucy will always yank it away.

But when he went on “The Colbert Report” to promote his new book he got some pretty good pushback from his host, a real-life catechist who came the closest I can ever recall to coming out of character while on the set. Watch:

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