'Gather the voices of the weak'

Passionate Pope urges reporters to foster peace

- BY ANDY LINES Chief Reporter inside the Vatican

THE new Pope has asked journalists to gather “the voices of the weak who have no voice”.

Leo XIV spoke passionately to a huge crowd of invited reporters and dignitaries inside the Vatican yesterday in his first news conference.

At the start he quipped that he hoped everyone would “stay awake to the end” of his speech.

He said: “Let us disarm communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred. Let us free it from aggression.

“We do not need loud, forceful communication but rather communication that is capable of listening and of gathering the voices of the weak who have no voice.

DISARM