EFE.- Pope Francis remembered journalists who have lost their lives on Saturday, covering conflicts and asked that those who have been unfairly imprisoned be released, in a speech on the occasion of the jubilee of the communicators.
Francisco had prepared this speech on the occasion of the meeting with the communicators and journalists in the classroom Paul VI, but preferred to give it read and deliver it for publication and improvise some words.
“The jubilee is celebrated at a difficult time in the history of humanity, with the world still injured by wars and violence, by the spill of so much innocent blood. That is why I first want to thank all the communication workers who risk their lives to seek the truth and tell the horrors of the war, ”the Pope wrote.
Therefore, he wanted to remember “to all those who sacrificed their lives in this last year, one of the most deadly for journalists. We prayed silently for your colleagues who signed their service with their own blood. ”
The Pope also mentioned “to all those who are imprisoned simply for having been faithful to the trade of a journalist, photographer, videooperator, for having wanted to go with their own eyes and for having tried to tell what they saw”
“There are many! But in this Holy Year, in this Jubilee of the World of Communication, I ask those who have the power to do so so that all unjustly imprisoned journalists are released. That also for them an “door through which they can return to freedom is opened, because the freedom of journalists increases the freedom of all of us,” he added.
According to the Annual Report of the International Federation of Journalists, 120 journalists were doing their work last year, while according to reporters without borders there are more than 500 imprisoned.
Therefore, the Pope urged “to defend and safeguard the freedom of the press and expression of thought along with the fundamental right to be informed.”
“Free, responsible and correct information is a heritage of knowledge, experiences and virtues that must be preserved and promoted. Without this, we run the risk of stop distinguishing the truth from lies; Without this, we expose ourselves to increasing prejudices and polarizations that destroy the links of civil coexistence and prevent us from rebuilding the brotherhood, ”he added.
Francisco encouraged all communicators to “talk about hope” and “share it” because, he added: “This is your good fight.”
In his improvised words, the Pope asked journalists to “be true” not only in what they tell but also in his life, when he went to the close 6,000 who met in the classroom Paul VI.
The day began when several thousand journalists and communicators arrived from all over the world, according to the organizers, crossed the Holy Gate of the Basilica of San Pedro on a pilgrimage in order to win the jubilee and receive indulgence as all the pilgrims who will go to Rome this year.
The Jubilee of the Communicators began this Friday in the Basilica of San Juan de Letrán with an international mass on the occasion of the feast of San Francisco de Sales, patron of the journalists, chaired by Cardinal Baldo Reina, vicar general of the Pope for the diocese of Rome.
After crossing the holy door. The journalists went to the Classroom Paul VI for an encounter with the Pope who was preceded by the speeches of Maria Ressa, Filipina journalist, Nobel Peace Prize, director of the Rapple platform; The writer Irish column, author of ‘Apeirogon’ and ‘Great World Spin’ and moderated by Mario Calabresi, journalist and writer, former director of “La Stampa” and “La Repubblica”.
And waiting for the Pope, there was a brief concert the violinist Uto Ughi.
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