The Pope met with film stars and directors at a special Vatican audience to celebrate cinema.
Welcoming dozens of Hollywood icons – including Spike Lee, Cate Blanchett, and Greta Gerwig, among others – to an audience hall, Leo XIV called film “a popular art in the noblest sense, intended for and accessible to all”.
The Vatican’s culture ministry organised the occasion as part of its efforts to reach out to the secular world.
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“When cinema is authentic, it does not merely console, but challenges,” the Pope, who was elected earlier this year after the death of Pope Francis, told those in attendance.
“It articulates the questions that dwell within us, and sometimes, even provokes tears that we didn’t know we needed to shed.”
Lee, best known for directing 1989’s Do The Right Thing, told reporters that “it was a surprise to me that I even got invited”, and gifted the pontiff a New York Knicks basketball jersey.
Blanchett also said that the Pope’s comments were inspiring, adding: “Filmmaking is about entertainment, but it’s about including voices that are often marginalised and not shy away from the pain and complexity that we’re all living through right now.”
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Archbishop Paul Tighe, the deputy at the Vatican’s culture ministry, said the guest list was put together over the last three months with the help of a handful of Hollywood contacts, including Martin Scorsese.
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Mr Tighe admitted that the Vatican had to convince Hollywood agents that the invitation to come meet Leo wasn’t a hoax.
“It’s an industry where people have their commitments months in advance and years in advance, so obviously it was a little hit and miss, but we’re very pleased and very proud” by the turnout, he said.
Earlier this month, the Pope shared his top four favourite movies: 1946’s It’s a Wonderful Life, 1965’s The Sound of Music, 1980’s Ordinary People, and 1997’s Life Is Beautiful.
