Pope Leo XIII: The First Pontiff to Be Filmed by a Movie Camera

Pope Leo XIII, born Gioacchino Pecci, served from 1878 until 1903 and holds the distinction of being the first pope ever filmed. The footage, often mistakenly credited to 1896 and Vittorio Calcina, was actually recorded in 1898 by Dickson of Biograph. In 2023, scholar Gianluca della Maggiore clarified this in his publication "Le vedute delle origini su Leone XIII." The video captures Leo XIII in the Vatican gardens, arriving in a carriage and blessing the camera. He also commissioned a fresco in 1883 in the Vatican's Galleria dei Candelabri that honors photography. His progressive views are evident in the encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891). The Vatican Filmoteca, founded in 1959, contains over 8,000 films. Pope Robert Francis Prevost's name choice "Leo" connects to Leo XIII's emphasis on labor and the digital age.