Pope Leo XIV made a pointed remark about the dangers of inhibiting the freedom of the press.
“Wherever a journalist is silenced, the democratic soul of a country is weakened,” the pontiff wrote in a statement, which was read aloud after a theatrical performance about a real journalist who faced legal challenges and threats for her work.
Leo didn’t explicitly mention Donald Trump. But the American president, whom Leo has taken shots at in the past, has made a number of controversial moves against his country’s journalists since returning to office in January.
Trump has barred the Associated Press from the White House press pool, sicced the FCC on news outlets he dislikes, and gutted the government-funded broadcaster Voice of America.
“In this time of profound institutional and social tensions, defending free and ethical journalism is not only an act of justice, but a duty of all those who yearn for a solid and participatory democracy,” the Pope said in his statement.
“Freedom of the press is an inalienable common good,” he added. “Those who conscientiously exercise this vocation cannot see their voices silenced by petty interests or fear of the truth.”
Weeks before Leo became pope in May, he had shared articles on social media that were critical of Trump and Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert.
In his public comments since assuming the papacy, Leo has on several occasions seemed to take subtle digs at Trump.
“In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest,” he said during his first mass, with Vance in attendance.
Leo’s statement about journalism was read in Lima, Peru, at a showing of the play Proyecto Ugaz, about Peruvian investigative journalist Paola Ugaz.
Ugaz helped uncover evidence of child sexual abuse committed by members of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, an influential conservative Catholic movement in Peru that was dissolved by Pope Francis in January 2025—in large part thanks to Ugaz’s reporting.
Leo was a bishop in Peru from 2015 to 2023, when revelations about SCV’s abuse were emerging. The Associated Press reported that he played an important role in supporting victims and taking action against SCV.
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