Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of the media as a bulwark against social division and disinformation during an audience with journalists on Wednesday. "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," Leo told the journalists. In polarized times, the media must safeguard against such abuses of power, the first US-born pope said. It was unclear whether Leo chose these words in the context of US President Donald Trump's crackdown on critical media. The pope stressed the need for "free, rigorous, and objec...