Martin Scorsese meets Pope Francis 30 years after Christ film row

Nearly three decades after his film The Last Temptation of Christ was deemed “morally offensive” by officials in the Roman Catholic church, Martin Scorsese met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday.

The American director, who is said to have considered joining the priesthood when he was a young man, met the pope a day after his new film, Silence, about Portuguese Jesuits in 17th-century Japan, was shown to an audience of 300 Jesuit priests at a pontifical college.

The Vatican said Francis had received Scorsese, his wife and two daughters, and the 15-minute meeting was “very cordial”. The pope told the group that he had the book that inspired Silence, and they spoke about the experience of Jesuit missionaries in Japan.

Scorsese gave the pope framed images depicting “hidden Christians” in Japan, including a reproduction of an ancient image of the Virgin of Nagasaki and a portrait of the “martyrs of Japan”. The pope gave the guests some rosaries.

Francis did not attend the showing at the pontifical university on Tuesday, but the theme of the film was seen as being close to the pope’s heart. When Francis was young he joined a Jesuit order with the aim of becoming a missionary in Asia, a wish that was never fulfilled because of his health problems.

Another screening of the film will be held on Thursday. It is unclear whether Francis will attend.

Among Scorsese’s most famous films are Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and The Last Temptation of Christ, for which he was nominated for an Oscar for best director.

The latter film, released in 1988, provoked a fierce battle in America’s culture wars. Its depiction of Jesus as a confused man and a dream sequence in which he has sex with Mary Magdalene shocked conservative Christians, who claimed the film was blasphemous.

There were attempts to stymie the showing of the film, and many cinemas refused to screen it. Producers at Universal took out newspaper adverts saying the film was an expression of free speech.

Argentina, where Francis was born and served as a cardinal, was one of many countries where the film was banned for several years.