Pope Leo XIV welcome Spike LeeCate Blanchett, Greta Gerwig and dozens of other Hollywood luminaries before a special audience at the Vatican on Saturday celebrating cinema and its power to inspire and unite.
Leo urged filmmakers and celebrities gathered in the Vatican's frescoed auditorium to use their art to include marginalized voices, calling cinema “a popular art in the noblest sense, intended for all and accessible to all.”
“When cinema is authentic, it not only comforts, but also challenges,” he told the stars. “It articulates the questions that live inside us and sometimes even brings out tears that we didn’t know we needed to express.”
The meeting, organized by the Vatican Ministry of Culture, follows similar audiences that Pope Francis has held in recent years with artists and comedians. It is part of the Vatican's efforts to move beyond the Catholic Church and engage with the secular world.
But the gathering also seemed to have special significance for history's first American pope, who grew up during the heyday of Hollywood. Leo, 70, a Chicago native, just this week named four of his favorite movies: “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “The Sound of Music,” “Ordinary People” and “Life is Beautiful.”
In a sign of just how starstruck he seemingly was, Leo spent nearly an hour after the audience cheering and chatting amiably with each of the participants, something he rarely does for large audiences.
Drawing applause from celebrities, Leo acknowledged that the film industry and cinemas around the world are in decline, and theaters that were once important social and cultural meeting places are disappearing from areas.
“I encourage institutions not to give up, but to collaborate in affirming the social and cultural value” of movie theaters, he said.
Celebrities are just happy to be invited
Many celebrities said they found Leo's words inspiring and expressed awe as they walked through the halls of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, where they enjoyed a light lunch after the audience.
“It was a surprise to me that I was even invited,” Spike Lee told reporters on the red carpet at the palace.
During the audience, Lee gave Leo a jersey of his favorite basketball team, the Knicks, with the number 14 and Leo's name on the back. Leo is a noted Chicago Bulls fan, but Lee said he told Pope the Knicks now boast three players from Pope's alma mater, Villanova University.
Blanchett, for her part, said Pope's comments are inspiring because he understands the critical role cinema can play in breaking boundaries and exploring sometimes difficult topics in non-divisive ways.
“Filmmaking is about entertainment, but it also includes voices that are often marginalized and do not shy away from the pain and complexity we are all experiencing right now,” she said.
She said Leo, in his comments about watching the film in a dark cinema, was clear about the important cultural role cinemas can play.
“Sitting in the dark with strangers is a way to reconnect with what unites us, rather than what divides us,” she said.
Growing guest list
The meeting brought together a diverse group of directors and actors, including many from Italy such as Monica Bellucci and Alba Rohrwacher. American actors included Chris O'Donnell, Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, his wife.
Archbishop Paul Tighe, No. 2 in the Vatican's culture ministry, said the guest list was compiled only in the last three months with the help of several contacts of Vatican officials in Hollywood, including Martin Scorsese.
The biggest hurdle, Tyga said, was convincing Hollywood agents that the invitation to meet Leo was not a hoax. Eventually, as rumors spread, some figures approached the Vatican and asked for an invitation.
“This is an industry where people make commitments months and years in advance, so obviously it was a small occasion, but we're very pleased and very proud of the turnout,” he said.
The purpose of the meeting, he said, was to encourage ongoing dialogue with the world of culture, of which cinema is a fundamental part.
“It’s a very democratic art form,” Tighe said. Saturday's audience, he said, was “a celebration of an art form that I think touches the lives of so many people and therefore recognizes it and gives it true importance.”
