Leonardo DiCaprio met Pope Francis at the Vatican City on Thursday, where they had a long conversation about their shared worries about environmental issues and charitable works. Leo even brushed up on his Italian to greet Pope. “Your Holiness, thank you for granting me this private audience with you,” said DiCaprio in Italian as he kissed Pope’s ring to greet him. Leonardo DiCaprio, a California native, is half-Italian.
Leonardo DiCaprio shared an intimate personal memory
DiCaprio also shared a very personal memory from his childhood with the Pope. He gifted him a book of works by the 15th-century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch. He shared how influenced he was by the painter’s works and shared his favorite one. He showed the Pope the reproduction of Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights” and told him that the painting hung over his crib when he was a child. The painting depicts Adam and Eve in the first panel, a teeming landscape at the center, and a vision of hell. It is one of the most intriguing works by Bosch.
“As a child I didn’t quite understand what it all meant, but through my child’s eyes it represented a planet, the utopia we had been given, the overpopulation, excesses, and the third panel we see a blackened sky that represents so much to me of what’s going in the environment,” said DiCaprio to the Pope. Leo also thought that the painting aptly represented Francis’s environmental concern.
Environmental issues discussed and debated amidst exchange of gifts
As the meeting ensued, an assistant handed the pontiff an envelope containing a check. The check was for the Pope to use for the charity works that were close to his heart and that he valued the most. Pope Francis generously returned the favor. He gifted Leonardo DiCaprio a leather-bound copy of “Laudato Si,” the second encyclical written by him and his “The Joy of Gospel.” The encyclical by the Pope was published last summer and talks about the tragic effects of global environmental deterioration. Through his encyclical, Pope urged to people to take an immediate action towards the protection of our environment referring it as “our common home.”
“Young people are demanding change in this regard, but they have been stymied not only because of powerful opposition but also because of a more general lack of interest,” said Pope Francis. Through his encyclical, “Laudato Si,” he impressed environmentalists, and his theories regarding the denunciation of the world’s fossil fuel-based economy and its demand for greener energy sources was embraced by most.
Leonardo has been known for his charitable works and has been a longtime environmental campaigner. In 1998, he launched his own Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation to support initiatives that promote sustainable development. While addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, his foundation donated a whopping $15 million for environmental projects. He also pleaded to business leaders to join hands and be a part of this battle against global warming. He was accompanied by his father, George DiCaprio, and Milutin Gatsby, global fundraising chair for the foundation.
His meeting with the Pope was a quiet affair where Leo maintained and practiced the Catholic virtues of humility and kept quiet about the visit. However, there has been no confirmation regarding whether Pope Francis blessed Leonardo for this year’s Oscars.
The post Pope Francis and Leonardo DiCaprio meet to discuss environmental issues appeared first on TheTrendler.