Leonardo DiCaprio showed off his linguistic skills on Thursday, January 28, while paying Pope Francis a visit at the Vatican.
The Revenant actor, 41, wore a fitted black suit, crisp white shirt and black tie for the occasion, showing the religious leader the utmost respect upon their meeting by bowing deeply and kissing the pope’s ring, as is customary.
“Your Holiness, thank you for granting me this private audience with you,” DiCaprio said in Italian as he bent to kiss the ring, according to ABC News.
The unlikely duo met on Thursday to speak about their shared concerns for the environment, and exchanged gifts as a sign of mutual respect.
In a video clip of the meeting, DiCaprio gives Francis a book of the works by 15th century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, explaining in English that his father had hung the works over the actor’s crib while DiCaprio was a baby.
“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 on in the environment,” the Oscar-nominated actor explained.
DiCaprio also handed Francis a check, asking the religious leader to use it for charity purposes “close to your heart.”
In exchange, Francis gifted the star with red, leather-bound copies of Laudato Si and The Joy of the Gospel.
“Pray for me, don’t forget,” he told DiCaprio in English.
Watch the clip above!
