Pope Leo XIV has welcomed the world of cinema at a Vatican meeting of actors, filmmakers, directors, and scriptwriters for an audience on cinema's ability to inspire while challenging them to be "witnesses of hope, beauty and truth."

The Vatican's Apostolic Palace was filled with celebrities from the world of cinema on Nov. 15, who were met by Pope Leo, Vatican News reported.

"When cinema is authentic, it does not merely console, but challenges," the Pope told the stars. "It articulates the questions that dwell within us, and sometimes, even provokes tears that we didn't know we needed to shed."

Among the stars Leo welcomed were Spike Lee, Cate Blanchett, Tonya Lewis Lee, Greta Gerwig and other Hollywood celebrities at the special Vatican audience celebrating cinema and its ability to inspire and unite.

Theaters and cinemas, the Pope pointed out, are "the beating hearts of our communities because they contribute to making them more human."

Meeting the audience in a hall adorned with frescoes, Leo encouraged the filmmakers and celebrities gathered to use their art to include marginal voices, calling film "a popular art in the noblest sense, intended for and accessible to all."

The meeting came nearly 130 years after the first film premiered in Paris in 1895, with the Pope highlighting the ongoing importance of film.

Moving from impressing audiences with visual effects, cinema became "an expression of the desire to contemplate and understand life, to recount its greatness and fragility and to portray the longing for infinity."

Pope Leo expressed his gratitude for what cinema represents: "a popular art in the noblest sense, intended for and accessible to all." More than just entertainment, films offer a narrative into people's spiritual journey.

This, he argued, is cinema's greatest contribution to humanity. It helps "audiences consider their own lives, look at the complexity of their experiences with new eyes and examine the world as if for the first time."

This introspection encourages people to rediscover a part of the hope essential for living life to the fullest.

Pope Leo affirmed that cinema is more than just moving pictures, because "it sets hope in motion."

Going into a cinema means crossing a threshold, the Pope noted. In the darkness of the theater, our senses are heightened and our minds become more open to things we might have never imagined.

Productions reach people who are searching for entertainment, but also seek meaning, beauty, and justice. In a world where screens are ever-present in our day-to-day lives, cinema can be a screen that offers more.

Pope Leo stressed, "It is an intersection of desires, memories and questions." Our minds are educated, and our imagination grows.

Pope Leo XIV pointed out that filmmaking is a communal effort and it requires working together with all types of professionals—from directors and prop masters to electricians and makeup artists.

Everyone, he said, is important to create the final product, since their mixture of gifts and talents help all involved "make their unique charisma shine in a collaborative and fraternal atmosphere."

At the end of the audience, each of the artists had the chance to greet Pope Leo.

Actress Cate Blanchett gave the Pope a bracelet and American filmmaker Spike Lee presented him with a personalized basketball jersey of the New York Knicks.