The film Solo Javier is presented to Pope Leo XIV

The family of Javier Sartorius, protagonist of the recently released film Only Javier —which tells the life of this young Spanish aristocrat who left behind a promising career as a tennis player to become a missionary and monk— traveled to Rome to present the documentary.

In addition to the screening in the downtown cinema Farneseorganized by the producer added and the distributor Bosco FilmsFernando Sartorius—Javier’s inseparable brother—and his cousin Rosa Sartorius had the opportunity to greet Pope Leo XIV and present the project to him, along with other members of the team, at the end of the General Audience on Wednesday.

There are several ties that unite Javier Sartorius with the Holy Father: Peru—where both were missionaries—and tennis. According to what Rosa Sartorius told ACI Prensa, during the brief meeting they were able to tell her, in broad strokes, the path of conversion and evangelical radicalism that Javier lived.

“We gave him a Virgin of Lord and a tennis ball of Only Javier. The Pope told us that he is a fan of Sinner and Alcaraz. Then he blessed us, it was beautiful, he is an incredible person,” Rosa commented after the meeting.

The director of the film, Josepmaria Anglès, one of the sponsors, and the president of the Javier Sartorius association, Jordi Bosch, also greeted the Holy Father.

Bosch highlighted in statements to EWTN in Rome that the meeting was “very simple and familiar.” In addition, he specified that after the presentation of Javier’s life they will promote his cause for canonization, which is still in the initial phase.

Of the young aristocrat who died in 2006 at the age of 45, Bosch highlighted his humility, obedience, his clean heart and innocence and his radicality in love.

Javier Sartorius Milans of Bosch sought pleasure and success during his youth, especially in the world of tennis, where he achieved success. However, his search for an authentic life—which even led him to explore Eastern spiritualities—ended up taking him to Peru, where he recovered the faith he had abandoned for decades.

Later he was sent to Spain to train to be a priest at the Servants of the Poor seminary. But his desire to live poverty with total radicality was stronger: he left the seminary to share the life of homeless people on the streets of Barcelona. Finally, he found his vocation in the Lord’s Sanctuary, an enclave in the Lleida Pyrenees, where he found the peace and fulfillment that he had sought throughout his life.

Director Josepmaria Anglès highlighted in conversation with EWTN that Javier’s life “is an incessant search for plenitude and meaning, a life that is not only about accumulating pleasures and experiences, but an experience of true Love and encountering God.”

With the documentary he hopes that “any person” can feel identified and that Javier’s experience and authentic life serve as inspiration.

He confesses that the film “has exceeded expectations” and emphasizes that Javier’s life “has something to say to the world today. Any of us can see ourselves reflected and be moved.”