Pope Leo XIV shunned the “degrading” media practice of posting “clickbait” online at a Vatican conference with dozens of journalists Thursday.

“Communication must be freed from the misguided thinking that corrupts it, from unfair competition and the degrading practice of so-called clickbait,” the Pope declared to roughly 150 members of the newswire group Minds International.

Pope Leo XIV meets with members of MINDS International (a global network of leading news agencies) during an audience at the Apostolic Palace on October 09, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. Getty Images

Pope Leo condemned the “degrading” media practice of posting “clickbait” in online journalism. Getty Images

Along with condemning clickbait — a form of sensationalist headline writing designed to rope in readers — a

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