"Pope Leo XIV called this Monday [May 12] for the release of imprisoned journalists and urged 'the safeguarding of the precious gift of free speech and of the press,’ during an audience with media who have reported on the conclave in which he was elected pontiff.
'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,' Robert Francis Prevost said in his message.
[...]
At the encounter, the pontiff called on media to choose ‘consciously and courageously the path of communication in favor of peace’ and added: ‘Let us disarm words and we will help to disarm the world.'"
