Pope Leo XIV used his first audience with the press on Monday to appeal to journalists to help cool the heated language of today’s media landscape, as he renewed his calls for a more peaceful world.
Echoing some thoughts from his predecessor, Pope Francis, Leo called for the use of moderate language in presenting facts to the 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 gathered in an auditorium in Vatican City on Monday. “We do not need loud, forceful communication but rather communication that is capable of listening,” he added, delivering his address in Italian.
In words that were likely to win him points with his audience, he also 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.”
The newly elected pope took the stage to a rapturous ovation from members of the news media, some of whom will continue to report on his papacy, and some who flew in to spend days and weeks reporting on the death and funeral of Francis, as well as the conclave that elected Leo. Leo’s address, a papal tradition, was frequently interrupted by applause.
The last five popes have held audiences with the media in the first days of their papacy. The event reflects the Vatican’s recognition of the value of public communication and its desire to have a good relationship with the news media that reports on it.
Leo, the first American pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church and its 1.4 billion faithful, has spent the first days of his papacy pledging to align himself with “ordinary people,” while decrying aggression and conflict. As Vatican observers watch for clues on how he plans to lead, Leo has evoked Francis, who spoke out tirelessly for the marginalized, several times already. He did so again on Monday.
In his remarks, which lasted for around 10 minutes, Leo also called for the release of journalists who had been imprisoned for their work. At least 550 journalists were being held across the world in December 2024, 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.
He also mentioned the challenges of social media and of artificial intelligence, an issue he has already highlighted.
He began with an impromptu joke in English, in which he thanked journalists for their applause but hoped they would not fall asleep during his remarks. After he had finished speaking, he descended the marble steps from the stage and shook hands with officials and some journalists, exchanging a few words and signing autographs.
The pope, who was born in Chicago, signed a baseball that someone held out to him. A woman in the line also asked Leo 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.
Matthew Mpoke Bigg is a London-based reporter on the Live team at The Times, which covers breaking and developing news.
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