Pope Calls on Security Services to Respect Human Rights

The pontiff of dual American and Peruvian nationality stated this while receiving a delegation from the Italian secret services, to whom he indicated that "these risks must always be evaluated and require high morality for those who prepare to undertake" this type of work. He emphasized that "it is necessary to establish limits, based on the dignity of the person, and to remain alert to the temptations to which a job like this exposes you" and to ensure that "the protection of national security always guarantees the rights of individuals, their private and family life, freedom of conscience and information, and the right to a fair trial." "The massive and continuous exchange of information requires us to be vigilant and critical of several vital issues: the distinction between truth and fake news, the undue exposure of private life, the manipulation of the most vulnerable, the logic of blackmail and incitement to hatred and violence," he added. He also reminded them that security activities "can never fail to respect the dignity and rights of each individual." He warned that "the arrival of new and ever more advanced technologies offers us greater opportunities, but at the same time it exposes us to constant dangers." Finally, he encouraged them to continue their work "always keeping the common good in mind, learning to judge and balance the different situations with judgment and balance." Pope Leo XIV this Friday demanded that confidential information "not be used to intimidate, manipulate, blackmail or discredit" politicians, journalists or other civil society actors and denounced that "in several countries, the Church is a victim of intelligence services that act with bad intentions by curtailing its freedom." "In certain difficult circumstances, when the common good seems more necessary than everything else, we risk forgetting this ethical requirement, and therefore it is not always easy to find a balance," he said.