“I wish you continued success in building free and open communication, driven by the search for truth and without prejudice,” said Pope Leo XIV in a letter of congratulations published in La Repubblica on January 15, 2026, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Italian daily newspaper's founding.
“Every day, you have recounted half a century of history, cultivating the relationship with your readers that has brought you this far,” the Pontiff said in a brief letter sent to editor Mario Orfeo.
The Pope highlighted the newspaper's presence in Rome, in his diocese, which has given it a “privileged vantage point,” particularly for recounting “the history of the Church” and reading “freely the pages of these 50 years.”
“This is the meaning of freedom of the press, which, despite the diversity of opinions, points of view, and cultures, must always act with transparency, with fairness, and offer the possibility of confrontation which, when not hostile, contributes to the common good and the unity of the human race,” Leo XIV assured the journalists of the center-left daily.
He encouraged them to “always build free communication based on dialogue, animated by the search for truth and without prejudice.”
Closeness to Pope Francis
La Repubblica is Italy's second most widely read general daily newspaper after Corriere della Sera. It was founded by Eugenio Scalfari on January 14, 1976.
Scalfari, an influential journalist and self-proclaimed atheist, engaged in dialogue with Pope Francis during his pontificate, with the Argentine pontiff sending him a handful of letters and interviews that were reported in the columns of his newspaper.
Some of Francis' comments as reported by the journalist caused controversy. In an article published in March 2018, he claimed that Francis had told him that hell did not exist; in another, published in October 2019, he reported comments by the pontiff in which the divinity of Jesus was questioned. On each occasion, the Holy See contested the veracity of the comments published by La Repubblica. Nevertheless, after Eugenio Scalfari's death at the age of 98 on July 14, 2022, the Argentine pope paid tribute to the journalist, describing him as his friend.
La Repubblica is currently going through a difficult period. Owned by the Agnelli family (Fiat) since 2020, the daily newspaper is currently up for sale. Thodōrīs Kyriakou, a Greek businessman close to Donald Trump, has shown interest in acquiring it.
On December 12, La Repubblica journalists went on strike to protest and defend the “identity” of their newspaper.
Pope Leo's affection for the press
Pope Leo has already spoken on other occasions to defend the freedom of the press. In fact, one of his first meetings as pope was with the hundreds of journalists who were in Rome to cover Francis' funeral and the conclave.
In addition to starting with a joke (video below), he told them:
Let me, therefore, reiterate today the Church’s solidarity with journalists who are imprisoned for seeking to report the truth, and with these words I also ask for the release of these imprisoned journalists. The Church recognises in these witnesses – I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives – the courage of those who defend dignity, justice, and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can make free choices. The suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community, calling on all of us to safeguard the precious gift of free speech and of the press.
On June 20, 2025, Pope Leo XIV called for the defense of “free and ethical journalism,” which is not “only an act of justice, it is a duty for all those who aspire to a solid and participatory democracy.”
The Pope’s message was read during the presentation of a play in Peru recounting the story of a Peruvian journalist, Paola Ugaz, who fought against abuses committed by a Catholic community. The group, Sodalitium Vitae Christianae, was dissolved by Pope Francis.
