This morning, May 12, the first audience of Pope Leo XIV was held in the Paul VI Hall, where the Holy Father welcomed hundreds of journalists and media representatives from around the world to thank them for their work and dedication in this “time of grace” that the universal Church is currently experiencing, while also calling for a “different” kind of communication.
“Jesus proclaimed: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ (Mt 5:9). This is a beatitude that challenges all of us and concerns you directly, calling each person to the commitment of carrying forward a different kind of communication: one that does not seek consensus at all costs, that is not clothed in aggressive language, that does not adopt the model of competition, and that never separates the search for truth from the love with which we must humbly seek it,” he emphasized.
Quoting Saint Augustine, the Pope also stressed: “Peace begins with each one of us: in the way we look at others, listen to them, and speak about them. In this sense, the way we communicate is of fundamental importance: we must say ‘no’ to the war of words and images; we must reject the paradigm of war.”
Escaping the “Tower of Babel”
After recalling and calling for the release of all journalists around the world who are imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of expression and for being “voices of Truth,” Leo XIV invited those present to promote a communication that is “disarmed and disarming.”
“Today, one of the most important challenges is to promote a type of communication that can help us escape the ‘Tower of Babel’ in which we sometimes find ourselves—a confusion of loveless, often ideological or partisan languages. That is why your work—through the words you choose and the style you adopt—is so important. Communication is not just about transmitting information; it is about creating culture, about building human and digital environments that become spaces for dialogue and encounter. And as we consider technological evolution, this mission becomes even more essential.”
Finally, before the blessing, he stated:
“You are on the front lines telling the stories of conflict and the hopes for peace, the situations of injustice and poverty, and the silent work of many striving for a better world. That is why I ask you to choose, with awareness and courage, the path of a communication of peace.”
Photo: Vatican Media
