Pope Leo met on Saturday (November 15) with dozens of Hollywood actors and filmmakers, including screen stars Cate Blanchett, Chris Pine, Adam Scott and Oscar-winning director Spike Lee.

The event, organised at the Vatican as part of the Catholic Church's ongoing Holy Year, featured a papal speech on the cinema's struggle to survive at a time of global uncertainty and digital overload.

“Cinemas are experiencing a troubling decline, with many being removed from cities and neighbourhoods,” the pope said, addressing the members of the film industry gathered in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace.

"More than a few people are saying that the art of cinema and the cinematic experience are in danger. I urge institutions not to give up, but to cooperate in affirming the social and cultural value of this activity."

The pope also encouraged artists to confront violence, war, poverty and loneliness with honesty, saying good cinema "does not exploit pain: it accompanies it, investigates it."

He praised not only directors and actors, but also "the quiet dedication of hundreds of other professionals", including the vast array of behind-the-scenes workers whose craft makes movies possible.

At the end of his speech, the long list of invitees met the pope one by one, many offering him gifts, including Spike Lee, who gave him a New York Knicks basketball shirt emblazoned with "Pope Leo 14".

Box office revenues in many countries remain well below the levels recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic, with multiplexes in the United States and Canada just suffering their worst summer since 1981, excluding the COVID shutdown.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

1. POPE LEO ENTERING CLEMENTINE HALL, WALKING TO THRONE

2. POPE SMILING

3. POPE, AUDIENCE TAKING SEATS AS MEETING STARTS

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO SAYING:

“I greet you with joy, dear friends, and I greet with gratitude what cinema represents.”

5. AUDIENCE, INCLUDING ACTOR, CATE BLANCHETT, AND DIRECTOR, SPIKE LEE, LISTENING

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO SAYING:

"Today, we live with digital screens always on. The flow of information is constant. But cinema is much more than just a screen: it is a crossroads of desires, memories and questions."

7. BLANCHETT LISTENING

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO SAYING (BITE CONTINUES ON NEXT SHOT):

"But cinemas are experiencing a troubling decline, with many being removed from cities and neighbourhoods. And more than a few people say the art of cinema and the cinematic experience are in danger. I urge institutions not to give up, and to cooperate in affirming the social and cultural value of this activity."

9. AUDIENCE LISTENING, APPLAUDING

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO SAYING:

"Violence, poverty, exile, loneliness, addictions, forgotten wars are wounds that need to be seen and told. Great cinema does not exploit pain: it accompanies it, investigates it."

11. ACTOR, MONICA BELLUCCI, LISTENING

12. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO SAYING:

"But a production would be impossible without the quiet dedication of hundreds of other professionals: assistants, runners, prop masters, electricians, sound engineers, riggers, make-up artists, hairdressers, costume designers, location managers, casting directors, directors of photography and music, screenwriters, editors, effects technicians, producers... I hope I haven't left anyone out, but there are so many."

13. AUDIENCE LAUGHING, APPLAUDING

14. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO SAYING:

"In an age of exasperated and opposing personalisms, you show us that to make a good film, it is necessary to commit one's talents. But everyone can let their particular charisma shine thanks to the gifts and qualities of those who work alongside them, in a collaborative and fraternal atmosphere. May your cinema always remain a meeting place, a home for those seeking meaning, a language of peace."

15. AUDIENCE APPLAUDING

16. PEOPLE PREPARING TO MEET POPE

17. BLANCHETT AND POPE SHAKING HANDS, SPEAKING

18. FRESCO IN CLEMENTINE HALL

19. LEE AND POPE SHAKING HANDS, SPEAKING / LEE GIFTING POPE WITH NEW YORK KNICKS BASKETBALL SHIRT READING (English) "POPE LEO 14"

20. INSCRIPTION IN CLEMENTINE HALL

21. ACTOR, VIGGO MORTENSEN, AND POPE SHAKING HANDS, SPEAKING / MORTENSEN GIFTING POPE WITH CARD

22. MEETING IN PROGRESS

23. BELLUCCI AND POPE SHAKING HANDS, SPEAKING

24. FRESCOED CEILING OF CLEMENTINE HALL

25. ACTOR, ADAM SCOTT, AND POPE SHAKING HANDS, SPEAKING

26. BLANCHETT, LEE AND MORTENSEN LOOKING ON

27. ACTOR, CHRIS PINE, AND POPE SHAKING HANDS, SPEAKING

28. MEETING IN PROGRESS

29. POPE LEAVING HALL