Overview
- The Holy See released a short list naming It's a Wonderful Life, The Sound of Music, Ordinary People, and Life Is Beautiful as papal favorites.
- A special audience is formally set for Saturday at the Apostolic Palace with more than a dozen film figures.
- Invited attendees include Monica Bellucci, Cate Blanchett, Emir Kusturica, Spike Lee and Gus Van Sant, according to the Vatican announcement.
- The invitation says Pope Leo XIV aims to deepen dialogue with the world of cinema and explore how artistic creativity can serve the Church’s mission and human values.
- Coverage notes continuity with similar events under Pope Francis and identifies Leo XIV as a 70-year-old, US-born pontiff leading a Church of roughly 1.4 billion Catholics.