Pope Leo XIV Thursday hailed the work of news agencies as a bulwark in an increasingly "post-truth" world, and warned of the dangers of relying on artificial intelligence for information.

"The world needs free, rigorous and objective information," he told an audience at the Vatican involving members of the MINDS International network of news agencies, which includes AFP.

"With your patient and rigorous work, you can act as a barrier against those who, through the ancient art of lying, seek to create divisions in order to rule by dividing," he added.

"You can also be a bulwark of civility against the quicksand of approximation and post-truth."

Careful, ethically-driven reporting was "an antidote to the proliferation of 'junk' information," he said.

Leo noted the crisis facing news and

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