Matthew McConaughey and Wife Camila Alves McConaughey Meet with Pope Leo in Vatican City

Tommy McArdleWed, August 5, 2026 at 6:19 PM UTC

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Pope Leo XIV, Camila Alves McConaughey and Mathew McConaughey on Aug. 5, 2026Credit: ABACA/Shutterstock -

Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila Alves McConaughey, visited St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City to meet Pope Leo XIV on Aug. 5

The couple appear to be spending time in Italy this summer while Matthew films an upcoming movie with Zoe Saldaña titled Positano

Pope Leo assumed the papacy in May 2025; he is the first American to lead the Catholic Church

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves McConaughey are getting spiritual during their time in Italy.

McConaughey, 56, and his wife, 43, posed for a photo with Pope Leo XIV at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome’s Vatican City during the pope’s weekly general audience on Wednesday, Aug. 5. The Academy Award-winning actor was photographed shaking hands with Leo — the first American pope — as Camila, whom Matthew has been married to since 2012, flashed a smile.

Matthew and Camila, who share three children — Levi, 18, Vida, 16, and Livingston, 13 — appear to have been spending a significant amount of time in Italy this spring and summer. Back in May, they were seen out for a stroll in Rome and appeared to be in the country while Matthew filmed a new Italy-set Netflix movie Positano.

Deadline reported in December 2025 that he will costar in the project with Zoe Saldaña. On July 20, the same outlet noted that Positano centers around a jewel thief (McConaughey) who decides to help a mysterious woman (Saldaña) with a dramatic heist.

Camila, for her part, shared a number of photos and videos from Dolce & Gabbana’s exclusive Alta Moda show in Sicily to Instagram on July 14 and celebrated “one of a kind fashion, art, the craftsmanship in every piece” in the accompanying caption.

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Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves McConaughey on Nov. 6, 2025Credit: John Shearer/Getty

A 1996 profile on Matthew in Texas Monthly described his family as “fairly religious [and] no-nonsense” growing up, and he has spoken openly about his Christian faith over the years. In September 2025, he published a book of poems and essays titled Poems & Prayers.

“I’ve leaned on it in the hard times. Later on in life I learned to lean on it in the good times. With great success, I needed faith to give me humility at times, and then slowly and still I’m learning how to have that humility but still not lose confidence, because I had a bad relationship with humility,” he said on Hoda Kotb’s Making Space podcast while he promoted the book that same month.

“I’ve also had my agnostic years where I did not believe,” he said at the time. “Where I fully said ‘It’s on you, Matthew. Self-reliance is key and that’s what you gotta be. Put your hands on the wheel. You’re responsible. That’s it.’ I came back to God and I did hear him applauding, going ‘Thank you for the courage to say it’s on you. I need more people not just relying on fate. I need more people going, it’s about fate but it’s also about free will.’ It’s about fate but it’s also about responsibility and having your hands on the wheel, and so I was able to laugh at that. And of course if you’re a believer and you have faith in God, [He’s] always there waiting on the other side of the door whenever you’re ready to come back.”

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Camila Alves McConaughey and Matthew McConaughey on Sept. 28, 2025Credit: Dave Benett/Getty

Matthew appeared in a live-action movie for the first time in a number of years with last year’s Apple TV movie The Lost Bus. This month, returns to theaters with The Rivals of Amziah King, which releases Aug. 14.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”