By Cristina Cabrera Jarro -
Photographer: Vatican Media
Group photo of Pope Francis with participants at the Vitae Summit 2022 meeting at the Casina Pio IV in the Vatican, Sept. 1, 2022.
MIAMI | So this happened: Colombian reggaeton singer J Balvin took a selfie with Pope Francis, posted it on Instagram, and 1.5 million people “liked it.” Then, in an interview with Rome Reports, the singer called Francis “the coolest pope” he’s known and encouraged fans to get to know him better.
It's exactly the kind of publicity that Argentine philanthropist Luis Quinelli aimed for when he established the Vitae Foundation: channeling media and star power to “change the conversation”; to convey unity and beauty and counteract the negativity currently coursing through the world.
“We need to start that conversation about how to bring hope, how to bring healing, how to bring reconciliation again in the middle of this culture of cancelation, fighting, polarization, of negative things,” said Quinelli, founder and president of the Vitae Global Foundation, a non-profit whose mission is to communicate universal values through the arts, the mass media, and the entertainment industry.
To bring that about, he and his small team pulled together the first Vitae Summit, held Aug. 31 through Sept. 1, 2022 at the Vatican, with Pope Francis in attendance.
Just before he headed for Rome, Quinelli stopped in Miami, where he was interviewed by the archdiocesan Communications team for the What the Faith, Miami? and Cuéntame Católico podcasts.
Photographer: Via Instagram @followvitae
Luis Quinelli, founder of the Vitae Global Foundation, sits next to Pope Francis during his meeting with participants at the Vitae Summit 2022 in the Vatican, Sept. 1, 2022.
He explained how Vitae got the blessing of Pope Francis — as well as Queen Sofia of Spain and other monarchs and governments around the world. And how getting the pope and the Vatican to host the summit paled next to the challenge of convincing A-list celebrities to attend.
“We were proposing something nontraditional, something extraordinary. Especially for the managers and the publicists who questioned, 'What is this?’ We were not recording a song, we were not performing in a festival, not filming a movie. Being two days in the Vatican, with the pope, they did not understand that,” Quinelli said.
Being and just talking to each other. Artists of different nationalities and backgrounds brainstorming ways to transform the world through the beauty of their art.
The summit gathered 25 international stars of music, film and TV, who got to meet not only each other but Pope Francis. Guests included Denzel Washington, Andrea Bocelli, Hayley Atwell, David and Jessica Oweloyo, Eduardo Verástegui, Jonathan Roumie and J Balvin.
Not all the guests at the summit were Catholic, but Quinelli hoped the unique location of the gathering would transcend differences of faith because promoting the common good is universal.
“These attendees are all artists that are doing beautiful things, but it’s not enough to impact the culture in a global way. I think we need to work together in order to really impact the culture and transform the culture,” said Quinelli.
Aiming to inspire participants with the same Holy Spirit that inspired master artists centuries before —with the Catholic Church as their patron the summit began with got a private tour of the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel, followed by a private dinner there.
“They are celebrities, high profile people, but with no time to be together with their peers and people to talk. To pause, share a meal, and share time, that is something simple, but important,” said Quinelli.
The following day, the group met at the Casina Pio IV, the headquarters of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, in the Vatican Gardens, and the same place where Nobel prize winners meet.
“We started a process of reflecting and understanding how or why the world is now in this situation. Then we identified the challenges, and finally started thinking about different projects and things we can do together,” said Quinelli.
Photographer: Via Instagram @jbalvin
Colombian reggaeton singer J Balvin takes a selfie with Pope Francis during the Vitae Summit 2022 held at the Casina Pio IV in the Vatican, Sept. 1, 2022.
Pope Francis also met with the group. Addressing them in Spanish, he called them “preachers of beauty,” according to Vatican News online.
“Beauty is good for us. Beauty heals. Beauty helps us go forward on our journey,” Pope Francis said.
He told the artists of the need for ethical consciousness in the content they produce, as well as the need to reach out to young people, and communicate the message of the Gospel through lived example, encounter, and accompaniment.
Quinelli pointed that young people are the main consumers of mass media, so it is important to reach them in their language, especially focusing on those who have walked away from the faith, or never encountered it.
“We need to understand how they are living as non-believers. As the pope says, don’t wait for them to come to church. Meet them where they are,” he said.
He explained how St. Paul, his personal hero, managed to do so.
“St. Paul had the ability to talk in the same language, with the same cultural terms, in order to be understood, in order to share the Gospel in the right way, in order to be effective. And I think we need to, as the pope says about the peripheries, be effective there. We need to understand them, and talk the same language,” Quinelli said.
Quinelli said the Vitae Foundation’s call is not just for artists and celebrities but for everyone to start these conversations in their own environment.
“We are living this special time in the world with all of these challenges, but we can change this, changing our conversations and talking about the right things,” Quinelli said.
LISTEN TO THE STORY
- Listen to Luis Quinelli’s story and the origins of the Vitae Foundation on the What the Faith, Miami? podcast in English and Cuéntame Católico podcast in Spanish.
- You can find them both on both Spotify and SoundCloud.
