By Agence France-Presse
In a statement on Monday, May 12, Pope Leo XIV called for the release of jailed journalists and urged reporters against using words that fan hatred, as Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited him to the war-torn country.
Leo, the first U.S. leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, held his introductory audience with journalists at the Vatican four days after being elected pope by cardinals.
After using his first address on May 8 to call for peace around the world, Leo returned to the theme on Monday, saying peace begins with communications.
“Let us disarm communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism, and even hatred–let us free it from aggression. Let us disarm words and we will help to disarm the world,” the new pontiff added.
He offered solidarity with journalists “imprisoned for seeking and reporting the truth” and called for them to be freed.
The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) media advocacy group welcomed his remarks as a “strong signal” to media professionals all over the world.
“At a time when 567 media professionals are still imprisoned worldwide, we call on Pope Leo XIV to support journalists unjustly persecuted for their work, particularly by visiting them in prison during every official visit,” RSF leader Thibaut Bruttin said in a statement.
As the new pope was speaking, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy revealed he had invited the new pontiff to Ukraine in their first phone call.
“Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers, to all our people,” Zelenskyy said in a post on social media.
Leo had appealed for a “genuine, just, and lasting peace” in Ukraine as he greeted crowds from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, May 11.
His predecessor Pope Francis, who died last month aged 88, repeatedly called for peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict but never visited either country.
Leo also echoed the late Argentine pontiff’s words by calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, for all hostages to be freed and humanitarian aid be sent to Gaza on Sunday, concluding: “No more war!”
Divided world
A huge crowd at the Vatican’s vast Paul VI audience hall, where the pope shook hands and exchanged a few words with assembled journalists but did not take questions, kicked off his first full week as a Catholic leader on Sunday, May 11.
On Friday, May 16, he will have an audience for foreign diplomats, followed by an inauguration mass at St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, May 18, which is expected to draw thousands of pilgrims.
The following week will see Leo’s first general audience on May 21, usually a regularly scheduled event for the pope on Wednesdays.
On May 24, he will meet with the Roman Curia over which he presides, which includes the powerful top officials and department heads running the government of the Holy See.
The world is still getting to know the modest and soft-spoken pontiff born in Chicago, who spent much of his life in the priesthood as a missionary in Peru, where he holds a second citizenship.
Before making him a cardinal in 2023, Francis entrusted Leo with the leadership of the powerful Dicastery of Bishops, which advises the pontiff on bishop appointments.
Don’t ‘close doors’
As pope, Leo will have to heal rifts within the Church, help renew a faith that is declining in many regions, and address a host of modern-day challenges, including the fallout of the global sex abuse scandal.
Among the tens of thousands of faithful who came out to see him on Sunday, May 11, many said they were cheered by signs that Leo would follow in the footsteps of Francis, seeking unity in a fractured world with an attention to the world’s poor.
Christina Morey, a 31-year-old American said “I love that he is both continuing Francis’ path while also seeming to create his own and I’m really excited to see where that will go.”
Italian Leo Mita, 34, said the world’s first pope from the United States actually appeared to be “a citizen of the world for rights and for peace”.
Whereas the late pope Francis sometimes ruffled feathers among global leaders–and within the Vatican–with his more direct approach, Vatican watchers say Leo will tap his quieter, more collaborative style for best effect on the international stage.
Before addressing the crowds on Sunday, Leo celebrated mass deep beneath the basilica, the site of St. Peter’s tomb.
According to a Vatican transcript of his words, Leo urged people “to know how to listen so as not to judge, not to close doors thinking that we have all the truth and nobody else can tell us anything.”
