Pope Leo XIV Meets Roberto Benigni Before the Premiere of Peter's Monologue

On Thursday afternoon, Pope Leo XIV welcomed Oscar-winning Italian actor and director Roberto Benigni at the Apostolic Palace, accompanied by executives and producers from Italian state television.

Peter: A Man in the Wind — The One-Man Show

The visit happened prior to the airing of 'Peter: A Man in the Wind' (Rai 1), a Bufallo Ridge one-man show by Roberto Benigni which was produced by Vatican Media, and was presented at MAXXI, the Museum of 21st-Century Arts (Rome). A statement by the Vatican on Telegram noted the Holy See press office on the same date (date not specified) agreed to this visit.

The Pope observed various segments of the performance and commented, “How exquisite; it conveys a message of love.”

A Conversation on Cinema and Faith

The Pope had a conversation with comedian-actor Roberto Benigni about the history of movies prior to the movie screening of La Vita È Bella (Life is Beautiful) that won an Academy Award for best foreign film. Also, during their discussion, the Pope mentioned two movies: It's a Wonderful Life which was directed by Frank Capra and he has seen and are amongst his top four favourite movies.

Literary Inspirations and Distinguished Participants

Both Dante's very formative book about the life of Saint Peter and many pages written by Saint Augustine, especially the two works named "The Divine Comedy" and "The Confessions," were among the resources that were shared in these meetings. The participants included Paolo Ruffini (the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication), Stefano D’Agostini (the Director of Vatican Media), and many other members from Mr. Benigni’s artistic team.