Pope: In this age of communication, nobody can say 'I did not know'

[pnwmom]

Pope Leo went on to describe the paradox that "in the age of communication, news and media agencies are undergoing a period of crisis." He added that audiences, too, are in crisis, as too often the line between truth and falsehood becomes increasingly blurred. Still, he continued, in a world saturated with information, "no one today can say, ‘I did not know'."

Information, he stressed, is "a public good" that must be protected through responsible reporting and collaboration between citizens and journalists. A “virtuous circle” is created, he said, when the public actively supports serious and independent journalism—contributing to the health of civic life. . . .

Defending truth in a post-truth world
Bringing his discourse to a close, Pope Leo quoted Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism, warning that the ideal subject of totalitarian regimes is not someone ideologically committed, but rather someone for whom “the distinction between fact and fiction, and the distinction between true and false no longer exist.”

In such a world, he stressed, journalists have a vital role. "With your patient and rigorous work", he continued, "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". Journalists, he said, must serve as a "bulwark of civility" against the dangers of post-truth and approximation.

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-10/pope-journalism-must-defend-the-truth-in-a-time-of-confusion.html