Whoopi Goldberg and Jimmy Fallon meet Pope Francis

The pontiff held an audience with more than 100 comedians from 15 countries inside the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican City on Friday morning, hours before he was expected in Puglia for the G7 summit. Goldberg and Fallon were joined by Chris Rock, Stephen Colbert, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Merchant and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, among others. In his speech, which was later published online, the 87-year-old told the comedians they had "the power to spread peace and smiles" and "unite people" in dark times because "laughter is contagious". He also told them that it was OK to make jokes about God.