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In 1967, the inaugural session of World Communications Day took place at the Vatican, in Rome. Established by Pope Paul VI as an annual celebration that encourages people to reflect on the opportunities and challenges that the modern means of social communication (the press, motions pictures, radio, television, and the Internet) afford the Church to communicate the gospel message, the initiative effectively ushered in the era of the celebrity-pontiff audience. The message today has broadened to include issues surrounding climate change, Third Word debt, global health care, education, and other social causes. But the image of a well-known personality being greeted by the Pope still serves as an especially powerful endorsement of that message.
Click through this gallery for a past and present look at pontiffs meeting personalities.
Italian actress Claudia Cardinale meeting Pope Paul VI at St. Peter's Basilica during the inaugural World Communications Day in May 1967. The initiative was created to strengthen public relations between the Vatican and the press, film, radio, and television industries.
Angelina Jolie, a UNHCR ambassador, meets Pope Francis in Rome in January 2015. The actress presented her new film, 'Unbroken,' during a private screening at the Vatican.
Pope Francis meets George Clooney and his wife Amal in Rome in May 2016 during the convening of the Scholas Occurrentes, an initiative for young people of the world that originated in the city of Buenos Aires in 2001, when Jorge Bergoglio (later Pope Francis) was archbishop.
Pope John Paul II receives Bono in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, on September 23, 1999, during a presentation of the Jubilee 2000 project to cancel Third World debt.
During his August 2016 meeting with the pontiff in Rome, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said how much he admired the Pope's "message of mercy and tenderness," and how he'd "found new ways to communicate with people of every faith around the world."
Pope Benedict XVI has a brief one-to-one with actor Jon Voight shortly before the premiere of the miniseries 'Pope John Paul II' at the Paul VI Hall in November 2005 in Rome. Voight portrays an older Karol Wojtyła (after his investiture as pope in 1978).
Leonardo DiCaprio meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican on January 28, 2016, and is presented with leather-bound copies of the Pope's two encyclicals. The film star, a passionate environmentalist like the pontiff, thanked the Pope in Italian for the meeting.
Mark Wahlberg delivers his speech as host of the Festival of Families on September 26, 2015 in Philadelphia. He'd earlier met Pope Francis, who attended the event as part of his visit to the US city.
Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel talk with Pope John XXIII during a visit to the Vatican in 1962. This was a stop on a good will tour that took the US Attorney General and his wife around the world.
Orlando Bloom bows graciously as he shakes hands with Pope Francis as the pontiff welcomes participants to the Unite to Cure, A Global Health Care Initiative conference at the Vatican on April 28, 2018.
Richard Gere and girlfriend (now wife) Alejandra Silva meet Pope Francis at the Vatican for the Scholas Occurrentes event in May 2016.
Pleased to meet you, Mr. Bond! Pope John Paul II greets former 007 actor Sean Connery during a private audience on November 22, 1990 in the Vatican.
Spanish actor Antonio Banderas and his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel meet Pope Francis at the end of the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 13, 2016.
Actor and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger offered Pope Francis a copy of the book 'California: This golden land of promise' during his meeting with the pontiff in January 2016.
Pope John Paul II is greeted upon his arrival in Monterey, California, in September 1987, by Clint Eastwood. At the time, the actor was mayor of Carmel.
The late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are greeted by Pope Francis for a private audience during the British monarch's one-day visit to Rome on April 3, 2014 in the Vatican.
Pope Francis salutes Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli as members of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation "Voices of Haiti" choir look on during the weekly general audience in the Paul VI hall on August 2, 2017 at the Vatican.
US President John F. Kennedy's meeting with Pope Paul VI in Rome in July 1963 was rather subdued, taking place as it did one month after the death of Pope John XXIII.
British singer and songwriter Sting and his wife Trudie Styler meet Pope Francis during his weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on August 8, 2018.
Gianluigi Buffon of Italy and Lionel Messi of Argentina exchange gifts with Pope Francis during a private audience at the Vatican on August 13, 2013. A self-confessed soccer fan, the current pontiff is a great admirer of the "beautiful game."
Pope Benedict XVI was clearly pleased to meet Brazilian soccer legend Pelé during their meeting on August 20, 2005 in Cologne, Germany.
Stephen Hawking was a guest of Pope Francis during his visit to the Vatican in November 2016. The esteemed theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author was attending a conference at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
French actress Brigitte Bardot is all smiles as she meets Pope John Paul II at his private library in the Apostolic Palace on September 27, 1995 in the Vatican.
Prince Rainier of Monaco, his wife Princess Grace, and their children Prince Albert and Princess Stephanie, with Pope Paul VI during a March 25, 1974 private audience in the Vatican.
President Nelson Mandela of South Africa talks with Pope John Paul II during their meeting at the Vatican in June 1998. Mandela thanked the pontiff for the Catholic Church's help in the education and health care of Black South Africans when the white minority government wrote them off as second-class citizens during the apartheid era.
Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida also met Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in 1967 during the 1st World Communications Day event.
Pope Benedict XVI meets with former Cuban President Fidel Castro at the Vatican embassy in Havana on March 29, 2012. The Pope was finishing up his first trip to Cuba, 14 years after Pope John Paul II visited the communist country.
Pope Benedict XVI, flanked by Metropolite Hilarion Alfeyev, welcomed Italian actress Sophia Loren at the end of the concert offered by Russian Patriarch Kirill I in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on May 20, 2010.
Famed filmmaker Martin Scorsese met with Pope Francis during his post-Cannes tour of Italy, hot off the success of 'Killers of the Flower Moon.' The director attended “The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination” conference on May 27, 2023, after he and his wife had a brief private audience with the pope at the Vatican.
In June 2024, Pope Francis hosted over 100 comedians from 15 countries at the Vatican, including Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon, and Chris Rock. He praised their ability to unite people through laughter, noting that humor can break down social barriers and foster connections. The pope emphasized that it's acceptable to joke about God if done respectfully, without offending believers.
During their state visit to Italy, King Charles III and Queen Camilla had a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican, on April 9. The meeting coincided with the royal couple's 20th wedding anniversary and the pope's recovery from double pneumonia. Earlier, King Charles addressed the Italian Parliament, emphasizing UK-Italy cooperation on issues like climate change and support for Ukraine.
Sources: (Catholic Culture)(America Magazine)
Celebrities who've met Popes throughout history
Personalities and their encounters with pontiffs
CELEBRITY Pontiff
In 1967, the inaugural session of World Communications Day took place at the Vatican, in Rome. Established by Pope Paul VI as an annual celebration that encourages people to reflect on the opportunities and challenges that the modern means of social communication (the press, motions pictures, radio, television, and the Internet) afford the Church to communicate the gospel message, the initiative effectively ushered in the era of the celebrity-pontiff audience. The message today has broadened to include issues surrounding climate change, Third Word debt, global health care, education, and other social causes. But the image of a well-known personality being greeted by the Pope still serves as an especially powerful endorsement of that message.
Click through this gallery for a past and present look at pontiffs meeting personalities.