Pope Leo XIV views a display of headlines on his election to the pontificate during a meeting with the MINDS Conference in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Oct 9, 2025 / 10:44 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday said news agencies have the responsibility to uphold principles that protect a person’s right to access “accurate and balanced” information while avoiding “degrading” practices such as manipulation and “clickbait.”
In a private meeting at the Vatican with participants of the Oct. 9–10 MINDS Conference in Rome, the Holy Father expressed his desire for greater collaboration between producers and consumers of news content to create a “virtuous circle” that benefits society as a whole.
“Information is a public good that we should all protect,” Leo said. “For this reason, what is truly productive is a partnership between citizens and journalists in the service of ethical and civic responsibility.”
“Communication must be freed from the misguided thinking that corrupts it, from unfair competition, and from the degrading practice of so-called clickbait,” he added.
While encouraging people to “value and support professionals and agencies that demonstrate seriousness and true freedom in their work,” the Holy Father said media professionals should uphold the values of transparency, accountability, quality, and objectivity, to earn the trust of citizens.
During the meeting, the Holy Father also spoke of his high regard for countless journalists, particularly front-line reporters in conflict zones, who work to ensure information is not “manipulated for ends that are contrary to truth and human dignity.”
“In times such as ours, marked by widespread and violent conflicts, many have died while carrying out their duties,” he said. “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,” he continued.
Addressing concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on communications media, the Holy Father said people are not destined to live in a world where “truth is no longer distinguishable from fiction” and called for vigilance to guarantee technology and algorithms do not “replace human beings” or remain “in the hands of a few.”
“The world needs free, rigorous, and objective information,” he insisted.
“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,’” he said, citing the German American philosopher’s book “The Origins of Totalitarianism.”
Urging news journalists to “never sell out your authority,” Leo XIV told those present at the morning audience that their “patient and rigorous work” can be a pillar to bring “civility” back into society.
“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 said.
“The communications sector cannot and must not separate its work from the sharing of truth,” he added.
