Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope in history, will host a gathering of Hollywood talent at the Vatican as part of his initiative to “deepen dialogue with the World of Cinema.”
The special audience at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace this coming Saturday morning will host dozens of stars and filmmakers, including Cate Blanchett, Chris Pine, Viggo Mortensen, Spike Lee, George Miller, and Gus Van Sant among others.
In a press release, the Vatican said that the pope “has expressed his desire to deepen dialogue with the World of Cinema… exploring the possibilities that artistic creativity offers to the mission of the Church and the promotion of human values.”
The Vatican also shared the Pope Leo’s favorite works of cinema: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), The Sound of Music (1965), Ordinary People (1980), and Life is Beautiful (1997).
According to Variety, there is “no precedent in recent memory for an event of this type at the Vatican, though the late Pope Francis in June 2024 hosted an Vatican gathering for comedians that included U.S. late-night hosts Conan O’Brien, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon.”
“The announcement comes after Pope Leo met with Robert De Niro and his children, Julian De Niro and Drena De Niro, at the Vatican last week. De Niro was in Rome being honored with the Lupa Capitolina, the city’s top honor, and attending the inauguration of his Nobu Hotel Roma on the iconic Via Veneto,” it added.
Pope Leo has previously said he wishes to focus his papacy on addressing the rise in technologies like Artificial Intelligence.
“I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution,” the Holy Father said.
“In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labor,” he added.
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
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