Rome: The third edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity brought global voices to Rome on September 12–13, where communicators, media leaders, and Church representatives gathered to confront one of today’s most urgent challenges: the power of words in a fractured world. A central roundtable titled “G20 Information”, hosted at Rome’s historic Sala della Protomoteca on Capitoline Hill, urged journalists and media organizations to recover truth, freedom, and dignity in an age dominated by conflict, disinformation, and hate speech.
Opening the session, Father Enzo Fortunato, director of Piazza San Pietro, underscored that information itself has become a battlefield. “Truth is too often manipulated, freedom is wounded, and dignity is stripped away,” he warned, adding that “words can wound more than weapons.” His call reflected Pope Leo XIV’s appeal: “If we disarm words, we will help disarm the world.”
Participants affirmed that truthful storytelling must become a tool for peace, dialogue, and fraternity. They highlighted the dangers of unchecked algorithms, clickbait, and online hatred, which amplify division and create what one speaker described as a “hall of mirrors” where reality is distorted and dialogue is silenced.
Fr. Fortunato pointed to three non-negotiable pillars truth, freedom, and dignity as common goods of humanity. He noted the increasing persecution of journalists across the globe, emphasizing that freedom of the press is not a privilege but a safeguard of democracy. “Before being believers,” he said, echoing Pope Leo XIV, “we are called to be human.”
Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, urged the media to return to the essence of service: distinguishing good journalism from gossip, facts from manipulation. “Disarming communication,” he said, “means freeing it from prejudice, aggression, and the paradigm of domination.” He warned of algorithms acting as “gatekeepers of thought,” narrowing perspectives and trapping people in ideological bubbles.
Similarly, Simona Agnes of RAI insisted that journalism’s first vocation is service: “to interpret reality honestly, defend the vulnerable, and build a fraternity where every person’s dignity is respected.”
Several participants gave voice to the dangers faced by journalists in conflict zones. Dima Al Khatib of Al Jazeera+ paid tribute to colleagues slain in Gaza, recalling how some wrote farewell letters to their families, knowing death was imminent. “More journalists have been killed in less than two years than in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and World War II combined,” she said.
Jérôme Fenoglio, director of Le Monde, stressed that without shared facts, peace itself becomes impossible. Joe Ageyo of Kenya’s Nation Media Group reminded the gathering that countless human stories especially those of war victims remain unheard unless media carries them to the world.
Media executives warned of an increasingly blurred line between fact and propaganda. Alessandra Galloni, editor-in-chief of Reuters, and Luigi Contu of ANSA cautioned against the rise of “manipulated realities” through artificial intelligence, which could rob societies of the ability to tell truth from falsehood. Mark Thompson, CEO of CNN, however, called for optimism, insisting that billions still long for content that fosters dialogue, culture, and shared understanding.
Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of Rappler, described today’s crisis as an “information armageddon.” She stressed that while algorithms accelerate lies six times faster than facts, humanity is not powerless. “The future is not written in code,” she said. “It is written by the choices we all make together.”
Closing the roundtable, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Archpriest of Saint Peter’s Basilica, tied the reflections back to the theme of human fraternity. “The more we build fraternity and recognize each person as a gift, the more we grow in humanity,” he affirmed.
The meeting in Rome thus concluded with a unified conviction: journalism and communication are not merely tools of industry but instruments of peace. By safeguarding truth, defending freedom, and restoring dignity, the media can help transform fractured narratives into bridges of fraternity truly disarming words to disarm the world.