Mark Wahlberg asks the Pope to forgive him for 'Ted'

The Pope’s visit to the United States is an opportunity for his holiness to take in important cultural talking points in the county, so it’s only right that the topic of Mark Wahlberg’s critically acclaimed film about a talking teddy bear came up at some point.

Pope Francis was visiting the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, a festival ‘headlined’ by former Funky Bunch ringleader Wahlberg.

As well as performances from Aretha Franklin, Andrea Boccelli and, er, The Fray, Wahlberg used his MC skills to keep things running smoothly, and told a story about a young soloist performing at the festival who said how much he enjoyed Ted, the crude buddy comedy which Wahlberg starred in opposite Mila Kunis in 2012.

“That right there was truly the voice of an angel,” he told the crowd, “But then he told me he loved the movie Ted. And I told him I didn’t think that was appropriate for a boy of his age!”

As the audience laughs, Wahlberg turned to the Pope, who is sitting on a massive throne that wouldn’t look out of place on Game Of Thrones.

“Holy Father, please forgive me,” he adds. “I’ve always hoped that the good Lord has a sense of humour when it comes and pertains to many of the movies that I’ve made.”

While the Pope had a good old laugh after seeing a Pope baby during his tour, it remains unclear if his policy of tolerance and forgiveness has stretched to the critically panned sequel, Ted 2, which, let’s be honest, was too much to bear.