Leonardo DiCaprio just took Oscar campaigning to a whole -- and holy -- new level: The "Revenant" star had an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday morning.

Okay, Leo didn't go solely in support of his recent push for a little gold guy. Instead, he met with His Holiness to discuss climate change, and brought along his father, George DiCaprio, and the fundraising chairman of his namesake foundation, Milutin Gatsby. Still, you don't see any other Oscar nominees visiting the Vatican this awards season.

According to E!, DiCaprio is a longtime admirer of the pope and his support of environmental causes. During DiCaprio's private 15-minute meeting with the pontiff, the pair "discussed Leonardo's charitable foundation and how they can work together on climate change."

The actor greeted the pope by kissing his ring, and saying in Italian, "Your Holiness, thank you for granting me this private audience with you." The pair also exchanged gifts, with DiCaprio presenting the pontiff with a book of paintings by 15th century Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch, whose work "Garden of Earthly Delights" hung above DiCaprio's crib when the actor was a baby.

DiCaprio tied the triptych to the environment, telling Pope Francis of the painting, "As a child I didn't quite understand what it all meant, but through my child's eyes it represented a planet, the utopia we had been given. And [in] the third panel, we see a blackened sky that represents so much to me of what's going on in the environment today."

In addition to the book, the actor also presented Francis with a check from his foundation, which he asked the pope to give to a charity "close to your heart." Pope Francis gave DiCaprio a leatherbound copy of his 2015 statement on the environmental crisis, "Laudato Si," as well as his 2013 work, "Evangelii Gaudium."

[via: E! News]

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