Hollywood to the Vatican: Cate Blanchett, Spike Lee meet Pope
By Kielce Gussie
“Here’s the story…” is often what you hear from storytellers explaining their work. And in a room full of creative artists and cinematographers, there is always a story to tell. After listening to Pope Leo’s address on the beauty and importance of films and responsibility of those in involved in the world of cinema, internationally known actors and filmmakers filled the halls of the Apostolic Palace each recounting stories of their own papal encounter.
At the heart of the community
With the ever-growing presence of streaming apps, cinema attendance around the world fell by 8.8% in 2024—selling 500 million less than in 2023. Pope Leo noted the danger of this decline as “cinemas and theaters are the beating hearts of our communities”. He also affirmed their cultural and societal value and the importance of safeguarding them.
American actress Leslie Mann has taken this challenge to heart. She said that as an actress, she is trying to get people back to watching films in theaters and cinemas, “to experience movies together instead of at home” on the couch.
Mann is choosing to follow the Pope’s call to look to the future with a sense of optimism: “We’re very hopeful and very excited for the future of cinema”, she explained. Even though the Pope’s words were in Italian, Mann shared with Vatican News how incredibly impactful the audience was. “It was incredible”, noting she will go home and read through the English translation.
Church and cinema
This sentiment of hope continued with Kenneth Lonergan, an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. He pointed out that, even though he’s not Christian, Catholic, or religious, the Catholic Church has “been one of the great promoters of art for many hundreds of years.”
Lonergan praised Pope Leo’s interest in bringing cinema into that tradition of art. He argued a world without art, film, paintings, music “would be a pretty sorry world”. In today’s world full of conflicts and social tensions, art—cinema in particular—can be an avenue of hope. “As soon as people have a chance to be hopeful,” Lonergan noted, “they grab it.”
He recognized that “it is a great privilege” to be involved in the making and behind-the-scenes of films, which can be testimonies of beauty, truth, and hope to people seeking both entertainment and meaning.
Never too far from home
At the end of the Pope’s address, the various artists were able to individually greet him, and if they wanted, give the Holy Father a gift.
One special present had hidden roots in Pope Leo’s university days in the United States. American filmmaker Spike Lee, based in Brooklyn, New York, greeted him with a personalized New York Knicks basketball jersey. “Here’s the story,” Lee began, “The Pope went to Villanova…and the Knicks had three players from Villanova.”
The city edition jersey has Pope Leo and the number 14 written on it—as a reminder of his connection to his alma mater.
Cinema gives voice to voiceless
Australian actor and film producer Cate Blanchett also used the opportunity to gift the Pope with a small blue bracelet with a beautiful significance behind it. “I work with UNHCR, the UN refugee agency,” Blanchett explained, and the bracelet is one that she “wears in solidarity with people who are displaced.”
Earlier this year, Blanchett launched the Displacement Film Fund as a UNHCR Goodwill ambassador. The initiative is dedicated to championing and funding “the work of displaced filmmakers, or filmmakers with a proven track record in creating authentic storytelling on the experiences of displaced people.”
Together with the director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Vanja Kaludjercic, Blanchett noted that the voices of these refugee filmmakers “often get marginalized from the mainstream.” So both Blanchett and Kaludjercic stressed the importance of sharing the work of this Fund with the Holy Father.
“It is of tremendous importance that His Holiness is opening up this space for dialogue and pointing out how important it is to create space for stories of those who often get unheard and people who do not have so much opportunity, like the displaced filmmakers”, Kaludjercic stressed. This, she argued, reveals shared values between the Displacement Film Fund and the Vatican—as they promote basic human rights and the dignity of each person.
Forced displacement is an important humanitarian issue facing our world today. UNHCR reported that as of the end of June 2025, some 117 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced from their homes as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or “events seriously disturbing public order.”
It is a crisis we cannot and must not avoid. This morning, Pope Leo stressed that those involved in the world of cinema must not be afraid to “confront the world’s wounds. Violence, poverty, exile, loneliness, addiction and forgotten wars are issues that need to be acknowledged and narrated.”
Blanchett left the Pope’s speech with this message firmly in mind. “He was talking about tears that often people are unable to shed in their daily life, which often happens in the cinema.” She felt the Holy Father’s call to return to “our day jobs and inspire and create those spaces” of dialogue, which can begin through stories of hope found in the cinema.
The Author
