Leo has previously voiced support for a free and independent press.
Pope Leo XIV voiced support for robust press coverage Friday when asked about the Trump administration’s decision to revoke White House credentials for CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
Speaking with CNN reporters aboard a flight to France for a four-day visit, Leo said journalists were welcome to cover him.
“I am very happy that here, you are all welcome,” he said. “I think it is very important, and we have it all the way around for everyone.”
Leo has previously voiced support for a free and independent press. Addressing journalists after the 2025 conclave that elected him, he called for the release of imprisoned reporters and affirmed the “precious gift of free speech and the press.”
"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," he said.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico were allowed back into the White House Thursday, hours after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore their press credentials.
The 14-day order directs White House officials to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the hard-pass credentials held by CNN, MS NOW and Politico employees that were revoked around Sept. 18.
Leo also apologized to reporters over an earlier international trip, when an Iberia charter malfunction in Spain’s Canary Islands forced him to return to Rome separately.
“A special mention I would like to make” to journalists on that trip, he said, adding that he was sorry they could not make the return flight together.
