Pope Leo has held an audience with Hollywood stars, urging actors and directors including Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen and Monica Bellucci to continue their work as "pilgrims of the imagination", helping to "bring hope".
The celebrity meeting was a sprinkling of star dust for a still relatively new pope and a way for the Catholic Church to engage more with the world beyond.
It was also a strong show of support from Leo XIV for the global film industry, as he spoke out against the "troubling decline" in cinema-going.
Hailed by director Spike Lee as a "great day", the gathering was the first of its kind in the Vatican.
Beneath the magnificent frescoes of the Clementine Hall, Pope Leo spoke in Italian to praise the power of cinema to entertain and to educate – and for its "capacity to amaze".
