Over 25 actors, singers, and artists from around the world met with Pope Francis for two and a half hours at the Vatican. They participated in an initiative organized by the Vatican and the Vitae Foundation, which seeks to transmit values through the arts. They had a long conversation with the Pope, who spoke to them without prepared remarks.
POPE FRANCIS
You are, excuse the phrase, preachers of beauty.
Beauty does good, beauty cures.
Among those present were Jonathan Roumie, who plays the role of Jesus in the series “The Chosen,” and Mexican actor Eduardo Verástegui, as well as singers such as Alexander Acha and J Balvin who says he became friends with the pope. He had this to say to young people after their meeting.
J BALVIN
Reggaeton singer
That they watch an interview with Pope Francis. They'll see a totally different pope than that which they are used to, with all respect to the others. For me, this is the coolest pope there has been since I was born.
Just as popes in the Renaissance were patrons of great artists such as Michelangelo, Pope Francis wants to follow in the footsteps John Paul II and Benedict XVI by dialoguing with artists.
ALEXANDER ACHA
Actor
He told us “you need to be authentic.” And how do you do that? By living, firstly, that experience of God's love, that experience of love of neighbor, and living it in your reality, in your everyday life.
EDUARDO VERÁSTEGUI
Actor
Each one of us could open our hearts to him and talk to him about how we see the world. There were different nationalities and mostly Catholics, some protestants, and as Alexander says, some are still looking.
Their meeting is a powerful example of what the Church and the arts are able to accomplish when working together for a greater good.
RM
TR: JM
