By Wonderwall.com Editors
10:30am PDT, May 14, 2023
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The leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, is known for being much less formal than previous popes as well as extremely humble (he spent time as a bouncer, a janitor and a lab technician before being ordained a priest). This pontiff, who was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina in 1936, even sleeps in the guest house rather than the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City! But for all his interactions with everyday people, he also associates with some of the most famous faces in the world. Keep reading to see His Holiness in both fun and serious snapshots with celebrities, politicians, dignitaries and luminaries...
Pope Francis shook hands with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky during their meeting at the Vatican on May 13, 2023. It marked the first time Ukraine's leader visited Italy since Russia invaded his country in 2022.
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Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Pope Francis are champions of the environment, so they had much to discuss when they met at the Vatican in January 2016. Leo even presented the Catholic leader with a check from his foundation to use for a charitable purpose of his choosing.
MORE: All the women Leonardo DiCaprio has dated
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When Pope Francis met with Angelina Jolie in January 2015, she presented him with a private screening of her film "Unbroken."
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis exchanged gifts during a private audience in the pontiff's library in Vatican City in November 2013.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump met Pope Francis in the Private Library of the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City in May 2017.
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In April 2014, His Holiness Pope Francis met with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II at the Vatican. Looks like they both had a nice time!
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Pope Francis also met with a veiled Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, in Vatican City in May 2017.
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Pope Francis chatted with U2 frontman Bono during the presentation of the Scholas Occurrentes International Movement at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome in May 2022, where he made strong appeals for educating girls and protecting the environment.
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Royals spending time with His Holiness! Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco — where Catholicism is the state religion as well as the majority religion of Monegasque residents — enjoyed a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican on July 20, 2022.
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Pope Francis greeted U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, at the Vatican on June 29, 2022. The politician's visit made headlines as she received communion that day at St. Peter's Basilica during a papal Mass on the feast of St. Peter and Paul. She also regularly receives communion in Washington, D.C., Reuters reported, but has been banned from the sacrament in her home base of San Francisco by the city's archbishop, Salvatore Cordileone, because she supports abortion rights.
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Pope Francis shared a laugh with U.S. President Barack Obama when they met at the Vatican in May 2017.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greeted Pope Francis during a welcoming ceremony at Edmonton International Airport in Alberta, Canada, on July 24, 2022. The pontiff visited Canada to personally apologize to Indigenous survivors of abuse committed over a span of decades at residential schools run by the Catholic Church.
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In January 2017, Arnold Schwarzenegger met with Pope Francis during the pontiff's weekly general audience.
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At the Festival of Families in Philadelphia in September 2015, Catholic actor Mark Wahlberg gave an uplifting speech as Pope Francis looked on.
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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Pope Francis exchanged niceties at the Vatican in August 2016. Everyone always seems to have a genuine smile in his presence!
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Richard Gere is also a fan of Pope Francis! He and future wife Alejandra Silva greeted the pontiff at the Vatican in May 2016.
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Joe Biden is the second Catholic U.S. president, so it was a momentous occasion when he and first lady Jill Biden met Pope Francis at the Vatican in October 2021. They discussed climate change and COVID-19 amid a debate raised by some Catholics questioning whether the president should receive Holy Communion since he supports for abortion rights, which the church opposes. (The Pope agreed that he should continue to receive the sacrament.)
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The Pope holds a weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. Robert Redford was an attendee at one in December 2019.
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Director Martin Scorsese greeted Pope Francis in October 2018 at the end of the book presentation for "Sharing the Wisdom of Time," a collection of 250 interviews with old and young people from more than 30 countries — written by the Pope himself!
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In May 2016, Pope Francis chatted with Angela Merkel, then the chancellor of Germany, in the private library of Palazzo Apostolico in Vatican City.
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Latin music superstar J Balvin snapped a selfie with Pope Francis at the Vatican's Vitae Foundation Summit on Sept. 1, 2022, captioning the image (as translated from Spanish), "Few of us take selfies smiling and another flow latino Gang with Pope Francis. Always on HIGH VIBRATION, LOVE AND TOLERANCE. PS. A video at the end for you to understand the vibe."
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President Francois Hollande of France and Pope Francis had a private audience in January 2014 at the Catholic leader's studio in Vatican City. The last time a French head of state had visited the Vatican was in October 2010, when then-President Nicolas Sarkozy was received by Pope Benedict XVI.
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Pope Francis met Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire, in Vatican City in May 2017.
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The whole Obama family was all smiles when Pope Francis arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland from Cuba in September 2015. It was the pontiff's first visit to the United States as Pope. He spent time in Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia during his visit to America.
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On the red carpeted tarmac, then-Secretary of State John Kerry said a heartfelt goodbye to the Pope as the religious leader left Washington, D.C., for New York City in September 2015. It was a whirlwind six-day trip to the U.S. for the Buenos Aires-born Pope.
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Then-U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner spoke with Pope Francis at the U.S. Capitol building before the Pope delivered a speech to a joint meeting of Congress in September 2015.
