Pope Leo XIV has told a group of leading Hollywood actors and filmmakers that more should be done to protect struggling neighbourhood cinemas in order to preserve the shared experience of watching movies.<\/p>\n
Screen stars Cate Blanchett, Monica Bellucci, Chris Pine and Oscar-winning director Spike Lee were among the celebrities to greet the pope at an audience in the Vatican on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Leo, the first pope to have been born in the United States, told the group the cinema industry was a vital “workshop of hope” at a time of global uncertainty and digital overload.<\/p>\n
“Cinemas are experiencing a troubling decline, with many being removed from cities and neighbourhoods,” he said.<\/p>\n
“More than a few people are saying that the art of cinema and the cinematic experience are in danger.<\/p>\n
“I urge institutions not to give up, but to cooperate in affirming the social and cultural value of this activity.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The pope encouraged filmmakers to confront violence, war, poverty and loneliness. (Vatican Media via Reuters: Simone Risoluti)<\/p>\n
‘Logic of algorithms’ must be resisted: pope<\/p>\n
Pope Leo said cinema, which marks its 130th anniversary this year, had grown from a simple play of light and shadow into a form capable of revealing humanity’s deepest questions.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
A culture shaped by constant digital stimuli, however, risks reducing stories to whatever algorithms predict will succeed, he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Spike Lee gifts the pope a custom New York Knicks #14 jersey. (Vatican Media via Reuters: Simone Risoluti)<\/p>\n
“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 telling their stories.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n