In a brief but significant speech focused on reporting news in a time of war, Pope Leo called on journalists to be on their guard “always, but especially in the circumstances of war, such as those we are currently experiencing” against the risk of turning information “into propaganda.” Journalists have an “essential” task that has become “even more urgent and delicate” today, he said, which is that of “verifying news so as not to become a mouthpiece for those in power.”

The American born pope told journalists: “It is up to you to show the suffering that war always brings to populations; to show the face of war and tell it through the eyes of the victims so as not to turn it into a video game.” He acknowledged “this is not easy in the few minutes of a newscast” and said, “but here lies the challenge.”

While he said all this to the editorial staff of Italy’s state run Channel 2 (TG2) on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of this national news channel, it was clear—also from the fact that the Vatican rapidly translated his speech (delivered in Italian) into English—that his message was addressed to journalists everywhere and especially to those in the countries conducting the war today, including the United States. The Chicago-born pope is well aware, from Vatican media reports, that some of the media in the United States has come under strong attack not only from President Donald Trump but also from the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and some members of Congress for not reporting the war in Iran in the way the administration wants.

While Leo has usually tried to steer clear of directly attacking the Trump administration, his words warning against transforming war “into a video game” was seen by many journalists and observers in Rome as supporting the stance taken by Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago—and others—who recently denounced the White House for doing just that. In his speech, Leo insisted that journalists should “show the suffering that war always brings to populations; to show the face of war and tell it through the eyes of the victims.”

He applauded this Italian television channel because from the beginning it was characterized by a “pluralism of information sources” and “a rejection of ideological preconceptions and an open-minded view of reality.” 

The Augustinian pope said, “We all know how difficult it is to be surprised by the facts, encounters, gazes, and voices of others” and “how strong the temptation is to seek, see, and listen only to what confirms one’s own opinions.” But, he added, “there can be no good communication, nor true freedom and healthy pluralism without this openness.”

He noted that in this television channel, from the beginning, “diverse cultural perspectives have coexisted.” He said, “this diversity, especially when animated by a spirit of friendship, has been an added value to your identity, a source of richness, an example of dialogue, which still has much to teach us today, in an age dominated by polarization, ideological closed-mindedness and slogans that prevent us from seeing and understanding the complexity of reality.”

He said the journey of this Italian television channel could be seen as “a paradigm of the challenges television journalism has faced and those still ahead.” He mentioned in particular “the transition from analog to digital, which saw you as protagonists in seizing its opportunities and understanding that no technological innovation can replace creativity, critical discernment, and freedom of thought.” Moreover, he said, “if the challenge of our time is that of artificial intelligence, I think of the need to regulate communication according to the human paradigm and not the technological one. Which means, ultimately, knowing how to distinguish between the means and the ends.”

The Vatican also revealed on Monday that Pope Leo received a phone call from Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the State of Palestine; the Holy See has full diplomatic relations with the State of Palestine.

It said Mr. Abbas spoke about “the alarming developments in the conflict in the Middle East and the living conditions of the Palestinian people.”

The media focus on the war in Iran has led to the almost complete eclipse of the dire situation and the sufferings of the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza living in insecurity, more that 1 million of them living in tents or makeshift homes, and more than 70,000 of whom have been killed by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, 2023, including close to 20,000 children. More than 600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire of Oct.10, 2025, Al Jazeera reports.

In addition to the Palestinians in Gaza, another 3.44 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (according to 2023 statistics), where many now suffer from attacks by settlers or the push for annexation. Since the start of the war in Gaza, Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, many of them civilians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Al Jazeera reports. 

According to official Israeli figures at least 45 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the region in the same period, Al Jazeera reports.

The Vatican said Pope Leo, in his conversation today with Mr. Abbas, “reaffirmed the Holy See’s commitment to achieving peace through political and diplomatic dialogue, as well as through full respect for international law.” 

Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.