Pope Leo Welcomes His First Movie Star

Al Pacino became the first movie star to be granted an audience with the new pope, meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Monday. Andrea Iervolino, producer of the Pacino-starring Maserati: The Brothers, shared a picture to Instagram showing the two of them meeting with the pontiff, to whom Iervolino presented a commemorative model of a car in a glass case. The film about the Italian car moguls is shooting in Rome, CNN reports. "We are honored to announce that this morning His Holiness Pope Leo XIV received in a private audience at the Holy See a delegation from the film Maserati: The Brothers," Iervolino said in a statement to Variety.

"The meeting was a moment of profound spiritual and cultural inspiration, centered around shared values that lie at the heart of both the Catholic Church and the film: family unity, love, compassion and the importance of contributing to the common good," the statement continued. "These values, which Pope Leo XIV has consistently emphasized in his recent messages to the world, resonate deeply with the story of the Maserati brothers: a family whose legacy was built not only on innovation and excellence but on profound mutual respect, solidarity, and a shared vision." (More Pope Leo XIV stories.)