Transcript of Pope Leo XIV's address to invited executives of global news agencies

Vatican City, Oct 9 (PTI) Following is the transcript of Pope Leo XIV's address to invited executives of global news agencies at the Vatican. PTI executives were among those present.

Dear brothers and sisters, welcome! I am pleased to address you at this time, in which current events call for particular discernment and responsibility, and it is clear that the media has a crucial role in forming consciences and helping critical thinking.

It is a paradox that in the age of communication, news and media agencies are undergoing a period of crisis. Similarly, those who consume information are also in crisis, often mistaking the false for the true and the authentic for the artificial. Yet, no one today can say, "I did not know.” That is why I want to encourage you in your important work and recommend opportunities for collaboration, which allow you to reflect together.

Information is a public good that we should all protect. For this reason, what is truly productive is a partnership between citizens and journalists in the service of ethical and civic responsibility. One form of active citizenship is to value and support professionals and agencies that demonstrate seriousness and true freedom in their work. This creates a virtuous circle that benefits society as a whole.

Every day, there are reporters who put their lives at risk to inform people about what is really happening. In times such as ours, marked by widespread and violent conflicts, many have died while carrying out their duties. They are victims of war and of the ideology of war, which seeks to prevent journalists from being there at all. We must not forget them! If today we know what is happening in Gaza, Ukraine, and every other land bloodied by bombs, we largely owe it to them. These extraordinary eyewitness accounts are the culmination of the daily efforts of countless people who work to ensure that information is not manipulated for ends that are contrary to truth and human dignity.

As you know, in my first meeting with journalists from around the world, immediately after the Conclave, I wanted to make an appeal for the release of your colleagues who had been unjustly persecuted and imprisoned for doing their job. I reiterate this request today. Doing the work of a journalist can never be considered a crime, but it is a right that must be protected.

Free access to information is a pillar that upholds the edifice of our societies, and for this reason, we are called to defend and guarantee it.

As Pope Francis stressed, "We need courageous entrepreneurs, courageous information engineers, so that the beauty of communication is not corrupted" (Address to Participants in the Jubilee of Communication, 25 January 2025). Communication must be freed from the misguided thinking that corrupts it, from unfair competition and from the degrading practice of so-called clickbait. News agencies are at the frontlines, and are called upon to act in the current communications environment according to principles - unfortunately not always shared - that unite the economic sustainability of the company with the protection of the right to accurate and balanced information.

In turn, journalists working for news agencies are called upon to be the first to arrive on the scene and report on the breaking news. This is even more true in the era of continuous live communication and the increasingly pervasive digitization of mass media. As you well know, those who work for a news agency are expected to write quickly, under pressure, even in very complex and dramatic situations. For these reasons, your service requires competence, courage and a sense of ethics. This is invaluable and must be an antidote to the proliferation of “junk” information.

But we are not destined to live in a world where truth is no longer distinguishable from fiction. In this regard, we must ask ourselves some crucial questions.

Algorithms generate content and data at a scale and speed never seen before. But who controls them? Artificial intelligence is changing the way we receive information and communicate, but who directs it and for what purposes? We must be vigilant in order to ensure that technology does not replace human beings, and that the information and algorithms that govern it today are not in the hands of a few.

Dear friends, thank you for your work! I offer my best wishes as you reflect upon the challenges that we face.

The world needs free, rigorous and objective information. In this context, it is worth remembering Hannah Arendt's warning that "the ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist (The Origins of Totalitarianism, 474).

With your patient and rigorous work, you can act as a barrier against those who, through the ancient art of lying, seek to create divisions in order to rule by dividing. You can also be a bulwark of civility against the quicksand of approximation and post-truth.

The communications sector cannot and must not separate its work from the sharing of truth. Transparency of sources and ownership, accountability, quality and objectivity are the keys to restoring the role of citizens as protagonists in the system, convincing them to demand information worthy of the name.

I urge you: never sell out your authority! May the Spirit of God, who is truth and strength, and instils meekness and courage, sustain you. I accompany you with my blessing. PTI ZH ZH