Al Pacino became the first Hollywood star received in the audience by Pope Leon XIV, in a symbolic meeting held at the Vatican, where he discussed common values such as the family, compassion and cultural heritage.
With Italian parents, Al Pacino was raised in the spirit of the Catholic religion. Photo: Shutterstok
On Monday, June 16, at the Vatican, a historical meeting took place: the legendary American actor of Pacino was received in a private audience by Pope Leon XIV. Thus, Al Pacino becomes the first celebrity in Hollywood that is officially encountered with the new Pontiff, the first pope born in the United States, known for his origins in Illinois and for the proximity to contemporary American culture.
The 85 -year -old Al Pacino was raised in the spirit of the Catholic religion by his Italian parents in the New York of the 1940s. However, his relationship with faith was shaken during the Covid-19 pandemic. The actor tells in the autobiographical volume “Sonny Boy” (2024) about the limit experience he went through in 2020, when he was emergency resuscitated.
“I think I experienced death that day. I turned and I can tell you that there was nothing there. It’s over. You’re here, then you are no longer.” writes Al Pacino in his memoirs.
The audience was granted in the context of promoting the film “Maserati: The Brothers”, in which Pacino plays the role of an important investor in the car company founded by the Maserati brothers.
The producer of the film, Andrea Iervolino, also present at the meeting, said: “We are honored to announce that this morning his sanctity Pope Leon XIV received in the private audience at the Holy See a delegation of the film” Maserati: The Brothers “, including the winning actor of the Pacino Oscar and the producer of the film Andrea Iervolino. of the Catholic Church, as well as of the film: the family unity, the love, the compassion and the importance of the contribution to the common good ”.
At the same time, Andrea Iervolino added that the meeting was a moment with a deep spiritual and cultural load, focused on common values of the Catholic Church and the film concerned.
“These values, which Pope Leon XIV has constantly emphasized in his recent messages to the world, resonate deeply with the story of the Maserati brothers: a family whose inheritance has built not only on innovation and excellence, but also on deep mutual respect, solidarity and a common vision,” stressed the producer, quoted by The Guardian.
Arriving in Rome on Sunday, Al Pacino traveled with a private plane, to participate in the filming of the new film project. During the audience, also published in Variety magazine, the actor appears in a photo with Iervolino, who gives the pope a commemorative model in a glass display case, while the actor looks carefully at the time.
The distribution of the film also includes other big names of international cinema, such as Anthony Hopkins, Andy Garcia and Jessica Alba. Pacino plays the role of Vincenzo Vacaro, a businessman involved in the first stages of the development of the Maserati company.
The meeting between the emblematic actor and the first American Pope comes at a symbolic moment for Pope Leon XIV. On Sunday, the Sovereign Pontif addressed by video conference to a crowd gathered at the White Sox stadium in Chicago, in a special liturgy organized in his honor, who is a declared supporter of the local baseball team.
