Martin Scorsese meets Pope Francis for Jesuit missionaries drama Silence

Pope Francis on Wednesday met Martin Scorsese after a special screening in Rome of the Oscar-winning director's new film Silence,about Jesuit missionaries in 17th century Japan.

For the-74-year-old Scorsese, who spent a year in a "minorseminary", a high school for boys considering the priesthood,the meeting came almost thirty years his film The LastTemptation of Christoutraged many conservative Christians.

The encounter held significance too for the 79-year-oldpope, a member of the Jesuit order who as a young priest in Argentina had wanted to go to Japan as a missionary but couldnot for health reasons.

At the meeting in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, the popetold Scorsese that he too had read the 1966 novel on which thefilm was based, Silence,by the late Japanese writer ShusakuEndo, who was a convert to Catholicism, the Vatican said.

The film, due to premiere in United States in December, isabout two Portuguese Jesuit missionaries who travel to Japan inthe 17th century to search for their missing mentor, who isrumoured to have renounced the faith under torture.

There the missionaries face a choice: they can savethemselves and Japanese converts from death by crucifixion,
burning and drowning if they trample an image of Jesus known asthe "fumie" to show they renounced their religion.

Christianity was banned in Japan at the time but manyCatholics continued worshipping underground. Scorsese gave thepope a painting by a 17th century Japanese artist of a Madonnathat was venerated by the so-called "hidden Christians."

Filmmaker 'really impressed the Jesuits'

Father James Martin, a Jesuit who was a consultant for thefilm's script said Scorsese stayed for an hour after Tuesday'sscreening to answer questions from the Jesuits.

"He was very engaged and energetic and really impressed theJesuits in the audience with the depth of his spirituality," hesaid.

You could not make a spiritual film like [Silence] without beinga spiritual person. It would come off as empty.- Father James Martin

"You could not make a spiritual film like that without beinga spiritual person. It would come off as empty," Martin said.

The Last Temptation of Christcaused uproar in 1988because of a dream scene in which Jesus marries and has sex withMary Magdalene. The film was met by protests and condemnation byconservative church leaders, and a cinema in Paris wasfire-bombed.

But many Catholics at the time also defended Scorsese, who made landmark films such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Gangsof New Yorkand The Departed, the 2006 movie that won theOscar for best film.

"[The Last Temptation of Christ] was not about Jesusrenouncing the faith but about being tempted, and that is part
of his humanity," Father Martin said.