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Pope Leo XIV has issued a stark warning to leading Hollywood figures, stating that cinemas are facing a “troubling decline” and urging greater efforts to preserve the shared experience of watching films.
Speaking at an audience in the Vatican on Saturday, the pontiff addressed screen stars including Cate Blanchett, Monica Bellucci, Chris Pine, and Oscar-winning director Spike Lee.
The first American pope described cinema as a vital “workshop of hope” amid global uncertainty and digital overload.
He lamented the current state of the industry, noting: “Cinemas are experiencing a troubling decline, with many being removed from cities and neighbourhoods.”
Leo continued: “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.”
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The Pope meets with filmmaker Spike Lee, who gave the Catholic leader a basketball jersey (Vatican Media/Reuters)
His comments come as box-office revenues in many countries remain significantly below pre-Covid 19 pandemic levels.
Multiplexes in the United States and Canada recently recorded their worst summer performance since 1981, excluding the period of Covid-related shutdowns.
Pope urges filmmakers to defend ‘slowness, silence and difference’
Leo said cinema, which marks its 130th anniversary this year, had grown from a play of light and shadow into a form capable of revealing humanity’s deepest questions.
“Cinema is not just moving pictures; it sets hope in motion,” he said, adding that entering a theatre was “like crossing a threshold” where the imagination widens and even pain can find new meaning.
A culture shaped by constant digital stimuli risks reducing stories to what algorithms predict will succeed, he said.
“The logic of algorithms tends to repeat what works, but art opens up what is possible,” he said, urging filmmakers to defend “slowness, silence and difference” when they serve the story.
The Pope also encouraged artists to confront violence, war, poverty and loneliness with honesty, saying good cinema “does not exploit pain; it recognises and explores it”.
He praised not only directors and actors but the vast array of behind-the-scenes workers whose craft makes movies possible, calling filmmaking “a collective endeavour in which no one is self-sufficient”.
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”.
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Pope Leo met with actor Robert De Niro earlier in November (Vatican Media)
Ahead of Saturday’s meeting, the Vatican shared four of the Pope’s favourite films: Robert Wise’s family musical The Sound of Music, Frank Capra’s feel-good It’s a Wonderful Life, Robert Redford’s heart-wrenching Ordinary People, and Roberto Benigni’s sentimental Second World War drama Life Is Beautiful.
