VATICAN CITY – In an extraordinary gathering at the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Leo XIV extended a warm welcome to renowned figures from Hollywood, including Spike Lee, Cate Blanchett, and Greta Gerwig. This special audience was held to honor the profound impact of cinema as a medium that inspires and unites people across the globe.

Pope Leo urged the filmmakers and celebrities assembled in the beautifully adorned Vatican hall to harness the power of their craft to give a voice to those often unheard. He described cinema as “a noble form of popular art, intended to be accessible and meaningful to everyone.”

Addressing the audience, he remarked, “When cinema is genuine, it not only provides comfort but also challenges us. It reveals the questions that reside within us and, at times, evokes tears we didn’t realize we needed to shed.”

The event, orchestrated by the Vatican’s cultural ministry, is reminiscent of similar gatherings Pope Francis has had with artists and comedians in recent years. This initiative is part of the Vatican’s broader mission to engage with the secular world beyond the confines of the Catholic Church.

This particular assembly seemed to hold special significance for Pope Leo, the first American pope, who grew up during Hollywood’s golden era. At 70 years old, the Chicago-born Leo recently shared his top four beloved films: “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “The Sound of Music,” “Ordinary People,” and “Life Is Beautiful.”

In a sign of how seemingly star-struck he was, Leo spent nearly an hour after the audience greeting and chatting amiably with each of the participants, something he rarely does for large audiences.

Drawing applause from the celebrities, Leo acknowledged that the film industry and cinemas around the world were experiencing a decline, with theaters that had once been important social and cultural meeting points disappearing from neighborhoods.

“I urge institutions not to give up, but to cooperate in affirming the social and cultural value” of movie theaters, he said.

Celebrities 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 Apostolic Palace, where a light luncheon reception awaited them after the audience.

“It was a surprise to me that I even got invited,” Spike Lee told reporters along the red carpet gauntlet in the palace.

During the audience, Lee had presented Leo with a jersey from his beloved Knicks basketball team, featuring the number 14 and Leo’s name on the back. Leo is a known Chicago Bulls fan, but Lee said he told the pope that the Knicks now boasts three players from the pope’s alma mater, Villanova University.

Blanchett, for her part, said the pope’s comments were inspiring because he understood the crucial role cinema can play in transcending borders and exploring sometimes difficult subjects in ways that aren’t divisive.

“Filmmaking is about entertainment, but it’s about including voices that are often marginalized and not shy away from the pain and complexity that we’re all living through right now,” she said.

She said Leo, in his comments about the experience of watching a film in a dark theatre, clearly understood the culturally important role cinemas can play.

“Sitting in the dark with strangers is a way in which we can reconnect to what unites us rather than what divides us,” she said.

A ‘hit and miss’ guest list that grew

The gathering drew a diverse group of filmmakers and actors, including many from Italy, like Monica Bellucci and Alba Rohrwacher. American actors included Chris O’Donnell, Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, his wife.

Archbishop Paul Tighe, the No. 2 in the Vatican culture ministry, said the guest list was pulled together just in the last three months, with the help of the handful of contacts Vatican officials had in Hollywood, including Martin Scorsese.

The biggest hurdle, Tighe said, was convincing Hollywood agents that the invitation to come meet Leo wasn’t a hoax. In the end, as word spread, some figures approached the Vatican and asked to be invited.

“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.

The aim of the encounter, he said, was to encourage an ongoing conversation with the world of culture, of which film is a fundamental part.

“It’s a very democratic art form,” Tighe said. Saturday’s audience, he said, was “the celebration of an art form that I think is touching the lives of so many people and therefore recognizing it and giving it its true importance.”

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