
Pope Francis’s screen debut in a narrative feature film got its first official showing on Wednesday night at the Vatican. The film will be released at Christmas.
Starring as himself, Pope Francis has a cameo role in Beyond the Sun, an evangelical story about children searching for God. He was not able to attend the screening but a copy of the film was sent to him.
All proceeds from the film will go to charities for disadvantaged children in Argentina, the country of the 80-year-old pontiff’s birth.
The film’s producers include Andrea Iervolino, an Italian-born Hollywood film-maker who says, for devout Catholics like himself, the pope is “God on Earth” and filming him was an overwhelming experience.