Pope Leo XIV on Saturday expressed concern over the declining number of cinemas and called on the film industry not to give up and to keep fighting to preserve them. Cinemas are a cultural and social space that contributes to the revitalization and humanization of cities, the first American pope said during a meeting with Hollywood actors and directors at the Vatican, reported by local media.
“Cinemas are suffering from an alarming erosion…and there are many who say that the art of cinema and the cinematic experience are in danger. I call on the institutions not to put up with this,” the Pope said, drawing applause from the audience.
Today, 160 actors, directors and other personalities from the film industry arrived at the Vatican for an audience with the Pope. Among them were, for example, the actresses Cate Blanchett and Monica Bellucci, the actor Viggo Mortensen and the directors Emir Kusturica and Spike Lee, who at the end of the audience handed the Pope an American NBA jersey with the number 14 and the name Pope Leo.
“Don’t be afraid to face the wounds of the world. Violence, poverty, exile, loneliness, addictions, forgotten wars are wounds that must be seen and told. Great cinema does not exploit suffering: it accompanies it, it explores it,” the Pope also told filmmakers today.
According to the American magazine Variety, the Pope’s meeting with filmmakers was exceptional in terms of the number of participants and their profession. Already last week, Leo XIV. in the Vatican, he met with actor Robert De Niro and his children, and in June he received another American actor, Al Pacino, for an audience.
