Pope Leo calls for news media to shun divisive language

Pope Leo XIV used his first audience with news outlets Monday to appeal to journalists to help cool the heated language of today’s media landscape. The comments once again echoed some of the themes highlighted by his predecessor, Pope Francis, as Leo backed a free press to enable informed decisions and renewed his calls for a more peaceful world.

“Let us disarm communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred; let us free it from aggression,” Leo told more than 1,000 journalists, including the Vatican press corps, who were gathered in an auditorium. “We do not need loud, forceful communication but rather communication that is capable of listening,” he added, delivering his address in Italian.

In comments that were likely to win him points with his audience, Leo spoke of the need for people to be informed in order to make sound decisions and of “the precious gift of free speech and of the press.”

Leo took the stage to a rapturous ovation from members of the news media, some of whom will report on his papacy and others who were in Rome to cover the death and funeral of Francis as well as the conclave that elected the new pope.

Leo’s address to news media, a papal tradition, was frequently interrupted by applause. He began with an impromptu joke in English, thanking journalists for their applause but saying he hoped they would not fall asleep during his remarks.

The last five popes have held audiences with the media early in their papacies. Leo, the first American to lead the Roman Catholic Church and its 1.4 billion faithful, has spent his first days as pope pledging to align himself with “ordinary people” and decrying aggression and conflict. As Vatican observers watch for clues on how he plans to lead, Leo has already evoked Francis, who spoke out tirelessly for the marginalized, several times. He did so again Monday. In the pope’s remarks, which lasted around 10 minutes, Leo called for the release of journalists who had been imprisoned for their work. At least 550 journalists were being held across the world as of December, according to Reporters Without Borders, a nonpartisan organization that works to protect journalists.

Leo said that the church viewed imprisoned journalists as witnesses. “I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives — the courage of those who defend dignity, justice and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can make free choices,” he said.

“The suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community, calling on all of us to safeguard the precious gift of free speech and of the press,” he said.

Leo also mentioned the challenges posed by social media and artificial intelligence, issues that he has previously highlighted.

After he had finished speaking, the pope descended the marble steps from the stage and shook hands with officials and some journalists, exchanging a few words and signing autographs.

Leo, who was born in Chicago, signed a baseball that someone held out to him. A woman in the line asked him for a selfie — a situation few of his predecessors would have faced in their first media outing. He politely declined, shook her hand and moved on.

The early days of Leo’s papacy have contained clues for how closely he might align with the agenda set by his predecessor. He has spoken of the need to continue dialogue between church leaders and lay people, a cornerstone of Francis’ papacy.

And on Monday, he spoke with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, the president wrote on social media.

Francis often discussed the war and called for peace in Ukraine, although some Ukrainians criticized him, saying that he had not initially identified Russia clearly enough as the aggressor.

In his first Sunday blessing as pope, Leo called for an authentic, just and lasting peace in the country, as well as for the release of prisoners.

Zelenskyy said he had also requested the pope’s help in securing the return of thousands of Ukrainian children who had been illegally deported to Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The International Criminal Court announced in March 2023 that it had issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin of Russia and another senior Russian official for war crimes in connection with the deportations. Russia has defended moving the children on humanitarian grounds.

Zelenskyy said he had informed the pope of Ukraine’s willingness to began a 30-day ceasefire immediately, reiterated that the government in Ukraine would engage in direct negotiations with Russia, and invited Leo to visit his country.