The Pope called fake news is a serious sin
Moscow. 17 Dec. INTERFAX.RU — Pope Francis criticized the journalists who get to light old scandals and sensationalism from the news, calling such actions a serious sin that hurts everyone involved in the situation.
According to The Guardian, the Pontiff intends in his forthcoming appeal to raise the subject of the so-called fake news.
He said the Catholic media, that journalists perform one of the fundamental tasks in democratic societies. But the Pope reminded them of the need to provide accurate and complete information, avoiding a unilateral approach.
“You should not indulge in “communication sins” such as disinformation, one-sided coverage of events, slander, discredit, digging in old news, which had long been known,” said Francis.
The Pope stressed that he considered such action a mortal sin, which harms the souls of journalists and others.
The term fake news has become popular during the election campaign in the United States in 2016. Then still the candidate for President Donald trump has criticized the us media for one-sided coverage of the race, accusing them of partiality, and for the publication of inaccurate or invented facts about his alleged misconduct.