Pope Leo XIV on Thursday made an urgent plea for the public to protect the emblems of journalism amid widespread attacks on the media and free speech.
“Doing the work of a journalist can never be considered a crime, but it is a right that must be protected,” the pontiff said in an address to the 39th Conference of the MINDS International Association.
“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,” he added.
In his remarks, Pope Leo referenced world atrocities, including the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, noting that reporters are risking their lives to provide truth to communities across the globe. He also highlighted concerns around deep fakes and artificial intelligence (AI) generating misinformation in the digital age.
“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,” he told the crowd.
The pope’s warning comes as journalists in his hometown of Chicago have faced scrutiny from the Trump administration.
Reporters in the Windy City banded together under the Chicago News Guild and other news organizations on Monday sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in connection with allegations of excessive force used on journalists at recent protests in the area.
Journalists have been tear gassed, pepper sprayed and even had guns trained at them for recording local happenings related to DHS’s ramped up immigration enforcement efforts.
The pontiff on Wednesday told U.S. bishops vising the Vatican to openly state their concerns regarding the president’s immigration policies, according to Reuters. On Thursday, he doubled down on the sentiment encouraging attendees to “act as a barrier” against critics of journalism.
“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,’ Pope Leo said, referring to an excerpt from the book, “The Origins of Totalitarianism.”
“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,” he continued. “You can also be a bulwark of civility against the quicksand of approximation and post-truth.”
The religious leader added that “transparency of sources” 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,” he concluded.
