Who knew Leonardo DiCaprio was down with the Pope. Fancy that. Granted a private audience with the Pope on Thursday, the two sat down together to chat about the environment after exchanging Italian, books and kisses. DiCaprio also threw in a cheque from his foundation.

On arrival, DiCap kissed the Pope’s ring after thanking him in Italian:

Your Holiness, thank you for granting me this private audience with you.

DiCap then gave the Pope a book of works of the 15th-century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, and showed him the reproduction of Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights that had hung over his crib as a child.

Cute, hey?

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 in the environment.

Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si (Praise Be) has been embraced by environmentalists for its denunciation of the world’s fossil fuel-based economy and its demand for greener energy sources.

DiCaprio is actually a longtime environmental activist who in 1998 launched his foundation to support initiatives aimed at sustainability.

In return, Pope Francis gave DiCaprio a leather-bound copy of Laudato Si and his earlier document, The Joy of the Gospel.

[source: usatoday]