Rocky star Sylvester Stallone visited the Vatican with his family on Friday and met Pope Francis, who told the actor that he is a big fan of his films. The two then playfully traded punches together.
“Well, thank you very much for taking time from your busy day, we appreciate this very much,” Stallone told Pope Francis after introducing him to his family.
Watch Below:
Pope Francis meets with American actor Sylvester Stallone and his family at a private audience in the Vatican. pic.twitter.com/f9tLUScwfj
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) September 8, 2023
The actor visited the Pope with his wife, Jennifer, his three daughters, Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet, and his brother, Frank.
“I am honored,” the Pope told Stallone, to which he replied, “Well, I’m honored, too.”
“We grew up with your films,” Pope Francis added, to which Stallone joked, “Ready? We box.”
The video of the meeting was posted by Vatican News to social media, alongside the caption, “Pope Francis meets with American actor Sylvester Stallone and his family at a private audience in the Vatican.”
“Meeting Pope Frances is a moment that will live in my heart for eternity,” Frank Stallone wrote in an Instagram post on Friday. “To share this blessed moment with my family can’t be explained. From where we come from to this moment is a miracle.”
Stallone’s visit to the Vatican took place ahead of his new Netflix documentary, Sly, world premiering at the Toronto Film Festival on September 16. The documentary will be released on Netflix in November.
Sly will chronicle “the nearly 50 years prolific carrier of Sylvester Stallone, who has entertained millions, is seen in retrospective in an intimate look of the actor, writer, director-producer, paralleling with his inspirational life story,” according to the documentary’s IMDb page.
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