Pope Francis wants to talk about fake news.
The head of the Catholic Church tweeted Friday that the theme for World Communications Day 2018 will be “the truth will set you free.”
“Fake news and journalism for peace,” he wrote.
In a statement on the theme, the Vatican said it “relates to so-called ‘fake news’, namely baseless information that contributes to generating and nurturing a strong polarisation of opinions. It involves an often misleading distortion of facts, with possible repercussions at the level of individual and collective behaviour.”
The 52nd World Day of Social Communications will be on May 13, 2018, and Pope Francis’s message will be published on Jan. 24, 2018.
“The Church too wishes to offer a contribution,” to the discussion of fake news, the Vatican wrote, “proposing a reflection on the causes, the logic and the consequences of disinformation in the media, and helping to promote professional journalism, which always seeks the truth, and therefore a journalism of peace that promotes understanding between people.”
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Write to Tessa Berenson at tessa.Rogers@time.com