Martin Scorsese Meets With Pope Francis, Announces Plans for New Jesus Film

Oscar-winning film director Martin Scorsese visited Rome Saturday as part of a delegation of American artists in an audience with Pope Francis.

The Holy See earlier reported the pope canceling his work schedule on Friday due to a fever. The Saturday event marked Francis's return to public duties.

Pope Francis Addresses Artists

The 86-year-old pontiff addressed the delegation of artists and directors, including Scorsese, during a conference at the Vatican called 'The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination,' jointly organized by Georgetown University and the Italian Jesuit publication La Civiltà Cattolica.

Francis spoke of his love for literature since childhood, saying the words of authors not only "helped" him to understand himself, the world, and the people around it but also "to understand more profoundly the human heart, my personal life of faith, and my pastoral work, even now in my present ministry."

Scorsese previously met with the pope in 2016 in a private audience to discuss his film 'Silence,' which centered on the persecution of Christians in Japan during the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 17th century and the missionary work of the Society of Jesus, more known as the Jesuits.

Pope Francis was the first Jesuit in the history of the Catholic Church to be elected as Bishop of Rome. The director also worked on films such as 'Taxi Driver,' 'Goodfellas,' 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' and his recent film, 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' which was shown during the Cannes Film Festival.

Scorsese's Old and New Jesus Films

The Guardian reports Scorsese reiterating his passion for Pier Paolo Pasolini's 'The Gospel According to St. Matthew,' and discussing 'Silence' and his controversial film 'The Last Temptation of Christ.'

The 1988 film depicted Jesus as a man torn between his ministry and personal desires, including a dream sequence where he had a sexual relationship with Mary Magdalene.

About this, Scorsese announced during the conference his intention to "respond to the Pope's appeal" to the artists attending the papal audience by "imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus."

"I'm about to start making it," he said.