Pope Leo calls for a free press marked by fairness, search for truth

January 16, 2026

In a letter to the director of La Repubblica for the Italian newspaper’s 50th anniversary, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to freedom of the press and said that the press should be “animated by the search for truth.”

“With freedom you have interpreted the pages of these fifty years” and “narrated the history of the Church,” Pope Leo wrote in his letter, dated January 14 and published yesterday. “This is the meaning of freedom of the press, which, even amid the diversity of opinions, points of view, and cultures, must always act with transparency, with fairness,” thus contributing “to the common good and the unity of humankind.”

“Dialogue thus overcomes conflict and builds peace,” the Pope added. “I wish you to always build free and dialogical communication animated by the search for truth and without prejudice.”

 

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Further information:

• La lettera del Papa per i 50 anni di Repubblica: “Continuate a cercare la verità” (La Repubblica, 1/15/26)