Pope Leo told a group of leading Hollywood actors and filmmakers on Saturday that movie theaters were struggling to survive and more needed to be done to protect them and preserve the shared experience of watching movies.
Film stars Cate Blanchett, Monica Bellucci, Chris Pine and Viggo Mortensen were among the guests at the private Vatican audience, alongside award-winning directors Spike Lee, Gus Van Sant and Sally Potter.
Leo, America’s first pope, said cinema was a vital “workshop of hope” in an age of global uncertainty and digital overload.
“Cinemas are experiencing a worrying decline, with many of them located far from cities and neighborhoods,” he added.
“Many people say that the art of cinema and the cinematic experience are in danger. I urge institutions not to give up, but to cooperate to affirm the social and cultural value of this activity.”
Box office revenues in many countries remain well below pre-COVID-19 levels, with multiplexes in the United States and Canada just experiencing their worst summer since 1981, not including the COVID-19 shutdown.
THE POPE SAYS THE LOGIC OF ALGORITHMS MUST BE RESISTED
Leo said cinema, which celebrates its 130th anniversary this year, has evolved from a play of light and shadow to a form capable of revealing humanity’s deepest questions.
“Cinema is not just about moving images; it sets hope in motion,” he said, adding that entering a theater was “like crossing a threshold” where imagination expands and even pain can find new meaning.
A culture shaped by constant digital stimuli risks reducing stories to what algorithms predict success to be, he said.
“The logic of algorithms tends to repeat what works, but art opens up what is possible,” he said, urging filmmakers to champion “slowness, silence and difference” when serving the story.
The pope also encouraged artists to confront violence, war, poverty and loneliness with honesty, saying that good cinema “does not exploit pain; he recognizes it and explores it.”
Australian Cate Blanchett said her appeal carried weight.
“The words spoken today by His Holiness are a real call not to shy away from difficult and painful stories,” she told reporters. “He really encouraged us to go back to our daily work and inspire people.”
The pope praised not only directors and actors, but also the vast array of behind-the-scenes workers whose craft makes cinema possible, calling cinema “a collective effort in which no one is self-sufficient.”
At the end of his speech, the long list of guests met the pope one by one, many offering him gifts, including Spike Lee, who gave him a New York Knicks basketball jersey emblazoned with “Pope Leo 14.”
“It was a surprise for me to receive an invitation,” Lee told reporters. “I’ve been to Rome many, many times. But (this was) the first time to Vatican City and the first time meeting the pope. So it was… a great day, a great day.”
Before Saturday’s meeting, the Vatican shared four of the pope’s favorite films: Robert Wise’s family musical “The Sound of Music,” Frank Capra’s heartwarming “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Robert Redford’s heartbreaking “Ordinary People” and Roberto Benigni’s sentimental World War II drama “Life Is Beautiful.”
