Leonardo DiCaprio has paid emotional tribute to Pope Francis after the Vatican announced his death on Easter Monday aged 88. 

The pontiff, who dedicated his ‘entire life’ to serving God and the Church, was fondly remembered by the Oscar winner, 50, nine years on from their meeting in Rome.

Posting pH๏τos of the pair, DiCaprio wrote: ‘Pope Francis was a transformational leader — not only for the Catholic Church, but also for environmental reform and activism.

‘He demonstrated a deep and unwavering commitment to environmental stewardship, most notably through his groundbreaking 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’. 

‘This powerful document served as a clarion call for a fundamental shift in how we relate to the planet. Emphasizing the interconnectedness of all life, Pope Francis urged individuals, communities, insтιтutions, and world leaders to unite in caring for our common home. 

‘His words helped catalyze momentum ahead of the global 2015 COP21 conference, ultimately contributing to the formation of the Paris Agreement.

Leonardo DiCaprio has paid emotional tribute to Pope Francis after the Vatican announced his death on Easter Monday aged 88  – pictured together in January 2016

‘During the filming of my documentary Before the Flood in 2016, I had the honor of sitting down with Pope Francis for a conversation on the urgent need to address climate change. That experience was enlightening, deeply moving and thought provoking.

‘In 2023, Pope Francis expanded upon Laudato Si’ with the publication of Laudate Deum: Apostolic Exhortation on the Climate Crisis. In it, he renewed his call for immediate and decisive climate action, reminding us that “we are part of Nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it,” and that we must not view the world from the outside, but from within.

‘Pope Francis was one of the most extraordinary spiritual leaders of our time. His legacy will continue to inspire generations of environmentalists around the world. May he rest in peace.’

DiCaprio has long been an outspoken advocate for environmental issues and established The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998 aged 24 with the mission of bringing attention and funding to the protection of biodiversity, ocean and forest conservation, and climate change. 

Legendary director and DiCaprio’s longtime collaborator Martin Scorsese also lauded the Pope as a ‘remarkable human being’ in a statement to Variety.

He said: ‘There is so much that can be said about the significance of Pope Francis and everything he meant to the world, to the church, to the papacy. I will leave that to others. He was, in every way, a remarkable human being. He acknowledged his own failings. He radiated wisdom. 

‘He radiated goodness. He had an ironclad commitment to the good. He knew in his soul that ignorance was a terrible plague on humanity. So he never stopped learning. And he never stopped enlightening. And, he embraced, preached and practiced forgiveness. Universal and constant forgiveness.

‘The loss for me runs deep — I was lucky enough to know him, and I will miss his presence and his warmth. The loss for the world is immense. But he left a light behind, and it can never be extinguished.’

Posting pH๏τos of the pair, DiCaprio wrote: ‘Pope Francis was a transformational leader — not only for the Catholic Church, but also for environmental reform and activism’

Francis (pictured on Easter Sunday) died due to a ‘cerebral hemorrhage’, possibly a stroke, which is said to be unrelated to the respiratory problems and pneumonia he suffered in February, outlets La Repubblica and La Stampa claim

Pope Francis meets with US Vice President JD Vance and delegation during an audience at Casa Santa Marta on April 20, 2025 in Vatican City

Legendary director and DiCaprio’s longtime collaborator Martin Scorsese also lauded the Pope as a ‘remarkable human being’ in a statement to Variety  – pictured together in January 2024 

Scorsese met with the Pope in 2024 after attending his weekly ‘general audience’, which allows the public an opportunity to see and pray with the Pope. 

The Oscar winner who has been a Catholic his whole life despite describing himself as not a ‘regular church-goer’ said in December 2023: ‘After many years of thinking about other things, dabbling here and there, I am most comfortable as a Catholic. I believe in the tenets of Catholicism.’

His upcoming film will be an adaption of the book ‘A Life of Jesus’ by Shūsaku Endō written in 1966 and will be much shorter than his other films, with a running time of around 80 minutes. 

It will be set in the present day, to make it ‘timeless’ and will examine ‘Jesus’ core teachings in a way that explores the principles but doesn’t proselytize’. 

‘I’m trying to find a new way to make it more accessible and take away the negative onus of what has been ᴀssociated with organized religion,’ he said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

Scorsese first spoke of his new project last May when he attended the ‘The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination’ at the Vatican, which gathered around 40 filmmakers, writers and poets who have seen Catholicism as integral to their work.

At the event Scorsese said: ‘I have responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus.’

Pope Francis’s death came just weeks after King Charles and Queen Camilla met His Eminence in Rome during a royal visit to Italy, with His Majesty saying the couple were ‘greatly moved to have been able to visit him’.

The Pontiff had spent the last couple of months battling health problems, including a bout of pneumonia which left him hospitalised.

He had recovered enough to hold a private audience with the pair on April 9, and he had been seen at public events over the Easter weekend, while also meeting US Vice President JD Vance in recent days.

However, it was announced early on Easter Monday that he had pᴀssed away, sending more than a billion Catholics worldwide into mourning.

The 88-year-old pontiff delivered his ‘Urbi et Orbi’ benediction from a balcony overlooking the square following mᴀss to mark the holiday 

The Vatican confirmed Monday the pontiff died from a stroke and heart failure.

The statement noted the pope also suffered from multiple bronchiectasis, arterial hypertension and type 2 diabetes.

The Holy See’s press service announced only the Pontiff’s death shortly after he pᴀssed away, writing in tribute that he had dedicated his ‘entire life’ to serving God and the church.

His body will now lie in state in St Peter’s Basilica for three days, and then he will be buried in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. His body could lie in state as soon as Wednesday, according to Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office.