David Letterman Cracks Pedophilia Joke at Expense of Next Pope

When listing the qualifications for a papal successor, comedian David Letterman used the Catholic church's clerical abuse scandal as a parting blast at Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday night's Late Show.

Letterman quipped that the church is "looking for a guy who is good at transferring creepy priests." Earlier, he took another shot at Pope Benedict: "I guess you know by now, big news coming out of the Vatican. Pope Benedict was fired." [Video below the break. Audio here.]

Letterman's tasteless mockery of the Pope comes as no surprise given that he savaged Sarah Palin and her daughter back in 2009, joking that her 14 year-old was "knocked up by Alex Rodriguez" at a Yankees game.

A transcript of the segment, which aired on the Late Show With David Letterman on February 13 at 11:37 p.m. EST, is as follows:

DAVID LETTERMAN: I guess you know by now, big news coming out of the Vatican. Pope Benedict was fired.

(Laughter)

LETTERMAN: And they're looking busy looking for replacements. And the smart money is on Tim Tebow. What?! Really? No, no, not Tim Tebow at all.

(Applause)

LETTERMAN: Here's what they're looking for now to replace Pope Benedict. They're looking for a guy who's got to be at least 60 years old. You want a mature man, got to be at least 60 years old. Biblical scholar, hoping for a biblical scholar, and looking for a guy who is good at transferring creepy priests.

(Applause)