Pope Leo has held an audience with Hollywood stars, urging actors and directors including Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen and Monica Bellucci to continue their work as 'pilgrims of the imagination', helping to 'bring hope'.
The celebrity meeting was a sprinkling of star dust for a still relatively new pope, marking a way for the Catholic Church to engage more with the wider world.
It served as a strong show of support for the global film industry, as he spoke out against the 'troubling decline' in cinema-going.
The gathering, hailed by director Spike Lee as a 'great day', was the first of its kind in the Vatican.
In the impressive Clementine Hall, Pope Leo addressed the power of cinema to entertain and educate, while also encouraging filmmakers to confront the harsh realities of the world.
Violence, poverty, exile, loneliness, addiction and forgotten wars are issues that need to be acknowledged and narrated, the Pope stated. Good cinema does not exploit pain; it recognizes and explores it. This is what all the great directors have done.
While some Catholics feel that Pope Leo has been slow to make his mark, this star-studded engagement may signal a new approach.
He expressed concern over the closure of cinemas, labeling them the 'beating heart of communities.' He urged institutions not to give up on the vital art form of cinema but to stress its social and cultural value.
As the event closed, Pope Leo received gifts from attendees, including a bracelet from Blanchett symbolizing her work with displaced persons, and a Knicks T-shirt from Spike Lee, signifying a striking blend of faith and creativity.
