Pope to Vatican-accredited journalists: ‘Love humanity, learn humility’

By Devin Watkins

“The beauty of your work around Peter is that it is founded on the solid rock of responsibility in truth, not on the fragile sands of gossip and ideological interpretations.”

Pope Francis offered that reminder to 150-odd journalists accredited to the Vatican, frequently known by the insider term “Vaticanisti”.

He met early Monday with members of the International Association of Journalists Accredited to the Vatican.

Gratitude for daily dedication to mission

In his remarks, the Pope jokingly apologized for making them get up so early and welcomed them to the Vatican, “even if you are at home here!”

Many members of the association frequently travel with the Pope on his Apostolic Journeys, and spend much of their waking lives covering his every move.

“I know your passion, your love for what you recount, and your trials,” he said, acknowledging that many of them wear several hats, providing coverage of Vatican news alongside news from Italy, Europe, the Mediterranean, and their home countries.

“I must apologize,” he said, “for the times when news concerning me in various ways has taken you away from your families, from playing with your children, and from spending time with your husbands or wives.”

Pope Francis noted that being a journalist is a vocation, something like that of a doctor, “who chooses to love humanity by caring for its illnesses.”

“In a way, this is what a journalist does, choosing to personally touch the wounds of society and the world,” he said. “It's a calling that emerges from a young age and leads to understanding, shedding light on, and recounting.”

Loving humanity, learning humility

The Holy Father went on to express his gratitude to the Vaticanisti for their journalistic work and for their “constancy and patience” in building “bridges of knowledge and communication instead of divisions and diffidence.”

Reflecting on the identity of a reporter, the Pope cited the words of an 80-year-old Vatican journalist—Luigi Accattoli.

“In my many years of Vatican journalism," wrote Mr. Accattoli, "I have learned the art of seeking and narrating stories of life, which is a way of loving humanity [...]. I have learned humility. I have encountered many men of God who have helped me to believe and to remain human.”

Pope Francis repeated Mr. Accattoli’s summary of his life as a Vaticanista. “Despite the difficulties, this is a beautiful encouragement: love humanity; learn humility,” he said.

Subtlety of spirit, journalistic skill

The Pope also recalled an admonition given to reporters by his predecessor, Pope St. Paul VI, soon after his election and ahead of the continuation of the Second Vatican Council.

He said the work of journalists covering the Vatican and the Church should not be guided by secular and political categories.

Rather, he added, their service “must take into account what truly informs the life of the Church, namely its religious and moral purposes and its unique spiritual qualities.”

Pope Francis thanked the Vaticanisti for seeking to look beyond appearances and avoiding the twin pitfalls of turning news about the Vatican into a mere spectacle or of idealizing it under the guise of politics.

Respectful handling of scandals

Departing from his prepared text, Pope Francis thanked the Vatican journalists for "the delicacy that you often show in speaking about the scandals of the Church," referring to respect for the victims and to the "silence" full of shame regarding the more lurid details.

"Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for this attitude when you have to talk about scandals.”

The work of journalists covering the Vatican, he said, requires combining “subtlety of spirit” with journalistic skill, in order to communicate Vatican events “with testimony, even before using words.”

Their task, he concluded, “lies in not hiding reality and its miseries, not sugarcoating the tensions but at the same time not creating unnecessary noise, rather striving to capture the essential, in light of the nature of the Church.”