By Anthony Faiola — VATICAN CITY – Pope Leo XIV delivered a vivid defense of a free press and “truth” on Monday in his first encounter with journalists as pontiff, paying homage to fallen war correspondents and warning of an era of polarized communication fueled by “prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred.”
“We must say ‘no’ to the war of words and images. We must reject the paradigm of war,” he said.
Leo’s initial encounter with the press, in the Vatican’s sprawling Paul VI Audience Hall, felt slightly more reserved than Francis’s in 2013, when the first Latin American pope elicited chuckles from the crowd after blessing a blind reporter’s seeing eye dog. The new pope, as is customary in the initial meeting, did not take questions from the thousands of media representatives gathered.
But he did offer short asides to some journalists during greetings. The pope told NBC’s Lester Holt that he had heard more Catholics in Chicago were going back to church because there was an American pope. Asked if he would be returning “home” soon, Leo replied, “I don’t think so,” according to reporters within earshot. One journalist asked the pope, said to be White Sox fan, to sign a baseball. Another asked whether he was interested in a game of doubles tennis. (He replied, “I play, but not well.”)
A Peruvian journalist gave him an alpaca scarf, which Leo briefly placed around his neck. “Expect news of me soon in Peru,” the pope told her. Another journalist, dressed all in white, joked that she was not trying to be pope; Leo posed for a photo with her.
Leo suggested he might proceed with what had been a planned trip for Francis to visit Turkey later this month to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, a major theological summit of the early church.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also confirmed Monday that he had held his first conversation with the new pope and had extended an invitation to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Francis at times drew the ire of Ukrainians for appearing to be apologetic toward Russian stances in the early stages of the war. “I also reaffirmed Ukraine’s readiness for further negotiations in any format, including direct talks,” Zelensky wrote in a post on X.
The traditional first meeting of a pope with the press has set an early tone in papacies. Monday’s gathering came as the Catholic world appeared energized by the selection of Leo, a longtime American missionary in Peru who has dual U.S.-Peruvian citizenship. As he has done repeatedly since being named pope on Thursday, Leo invoked the name of Francis, who brought him to Vatican City in 2023 to serve as head of the department in charge of elevating bishops.
After brief comments in English – a new trademark of a man who began his calling as a Chicago altar boy – Leo noted in Italian that the news media, like the church, faces a fraught moment.
“We do not need loud, forceful communication, but rather communication that is capable of listening and of gathering the voices of the weak who have no voice,” he said.
He added: “Let us disarm words and we will help to disarm the world. Disarmed and disarming communication allows us to share a different view of the world and to act in a manner consistent with our human dignity.”
He offered special thanks to journalists who have put their lives and liberty at risk to cover global conflicts, sometimes dying in the process.
“Let me … reiterate today the church’s solidarity with journalists who are imprisoned for seeking and reporting the truth while also asking for their release,” he said. “The church recognizes in these 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 echoed Francis in warning of the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence, and he commended reporting that sought to expose injustice and the plight of those in poverty.
“I ask you to choose consciously and courageously the path of communication in favor of peace,” he said.
