Pope Francis received the publisher and editors of the Italian newspaper Il Giornale in a June 1 audience, in commemoration of the newspaper’s 50th anniversary.
“Even today they make me work, but I confess a secret to you: if I don’t work I get bored,” the Pope said at the beginning of the 20-minute June 1 audience.
In a “cordial atmosphere,” the Pontiff and the newspaper’s leaders discussed “the role of information in the dramatic moment that the world is experiencing, in particular the war in Ukraine,” the newspaper reported.
The editor-in-chief of Il Giornale, which has the reputation of being conservative, told the Pontiff that the newspaper was founded with a “deep respect and attachment to the Christian roots of Italy and the entire West.” The Pontiff concluded, “Pray for me, but please, not against.”