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So you know that when you die

He鈥檚 gonna recommend you

To the spirit in the sky

For those who weren鈥檛 around in 1970, 鈥淪pirit in the Sky鈥� was a one-hit wonder for Norman Greenbaum, an observant Jew who sold millions of copies of a Christian-themed song that fused rock, blues and gospel, with a memorable guitar riff. It still gets decent play amidst a tidal wave of hip hop, plaintive emo and vulgar rap.

(Don鈥檛 even get me started on antisemitic neo-Nazi Kanye West. I don鈥檛 care if he鈥檚 bipolar. Take your meds.)

In more recent times聽鈥� Tuesday聽鈥� the spirit moved Pope Leo XIV to offer a shout-out to journalists. He鈥檚 not Jesus but a Pope is close enough in the terrestrial world: We鈥檝e got a friend, ya-ya-ya. And there hasn鈥檛 been a whole lot of those in an era where the profession has become wildly slandered, primarily due to bile spewing out of President Donald Trump鈥檚 White House. Coiner of 鈥渇ake news鈥欌赌� as a one-size-fits-all dis whenever facts get in the way.

We鈥檝e been rendered villains and hacks, a fifth column that gives succour to the enemy.

Meanwhile, Leo, in his first press conference with the flower of global media at the Vatican, heralded those who bring you the news, often at perilous risk to themselves. At least 124 killed in 2024, according to a tally kept by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the most in three decades. The majority of them Palestinian reporters slain in Gaza, but also in Lebanon and Sudan, Mexico and Haiti. Seventeen have lost their lives to Russian forces while covering the war in Ukraine since 2022.

Since 1992, documenting war, corruption, tumultuous politics and cartel violence. To say nothing of the deliberate missile strikes against radio and TV towers, meant to silence dissemination of news, or the hundreds imprisoned.

Leo called for the released of detained journalists聽鈥� as had pope Francis before him, sadly to little effect. The freshly minted pontiff expressed solidarity with journalists jailed 鈥渇or seeking and reporting the truth,鈥欌赌� saying their suffering 鈥溾�欌赌�

Freedom of the press, Leo continued, must be defended and the media must ensure that the 鈥減recious gift鈥欌赌� of free speech is protected.

Freedom of speech, not freedom of propaganda.

Italy, for one, does have a rambunctious press, typically aligned with a particular political agenda. No different from Canada or the United Kingdom or the U.S. Although Trump has made a special un-virtue of plucking talking heads from Fox News and other right-wing media, of no competence, to pad his cabinet with yes-sir no-sir aye-aye-sir acolytes.

In his confab at the Vatican鈥檚 Paul VI Audience Hall, Leo also had advice that cuts both ways. 鈥淭he way we communicate is of fundamental importance: , we must reject the paradigm of war. 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.鈥欌赌�

Adding: 鈥淟et us disarm words and we will help to disarm the world. Disarmed and disarming communication allows us to share a different view of the world and to act in a manner consistent with human dignity.鈥欌赌�

Leo gave special thanks to journalists who鈥檝e risked life and liberty covering global conflicts. 鈥淟et me 鈥� reiterate today the church鈥檚 solidarity with journalists who are imprisoned for seeking and reporting the truth while also asking for their release. The Church recognizes in these witnesses聽鈥� I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives聽鈥� the courage of those who defend dignity, justice and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can make free choices.鈥欌赌�

Defending freedom of speech. What a concept.

It’s unlikely Leo鈥檚 admonitions will change the scabrous tenor of these times of polarized mass media communication he described as being fuelled by 鈥減rejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred.鈥欌赌� World leaders might jostle for a papal audience but most seek a photo op rather than moral direction.

We still don鈥檛 know much about the essence of this first-ever American-born Pope, with a degree in math, a master鈥檚 in divinity, a doctorate in canon law. He鈥檚 a fan of the (grew up on the South Side, an altar boy); loves playing Wordle and tennis. It speaks volumes, though, that the 267th pontiff spent much of his ecclesiastical career doing missionary work in the wilds of Peru (he obtained dual citizenship).

While considered more moderate than his immediate predecessor, Leo聽鈥� n茅e Robert Francis Prevost聽鈥� has picked moments to flex his liturgical muscle. In February he posted a challenge aimed square at U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, referencing a comment the veep had made in a Fox News interview. Vance had claimed: 鈥淭here is a Christian concept that you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizen, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has .鈥欌赌�

Frankly, Vance聽鈥� who converted to Catholicism in 2019聽鈥� pulled that one out of his arse.

Leo responded on X: 鈥淛D Vance is wrong. Jesus doesn鈥檛 ask us to rank our love for others.鈥欌赌�

Seriously, you don鈥檛 want to get into a war of Gospel with a guy who鈥檚 got a master鈥檚 in divinity.

I鈥檝e no doubt Leo will pray for Vance, Trump et al. I鈥檓 heartened he鈥檒l pray for journalists.

In fact, we鈥檝e got out own patron saint聽鈥斅燬t. Frances de Sales, a 16th-century diplomat and prolific writer who posted his sermons聽鈥� on the wall, no internet聽鈥� promoting Catholicism in the France鈥檚 Calvinist border province of Chablais.

It should really be St. Sebastian, a converted Roman soldier martyred around 287 AD after being riddled by a fusillade of arrows on the order of Emperor Diocletian.

Bowstrings drawn and arrows whizzing still.