No press conference on the flight to Lima: journalists clash with prefect Alvarado

On the 11 November flight that took Leo XIV from Buenos Aires to Lima, there was no customary question-and-answer session with the travelling press. Franca Giansoldati reports it in Il Messaggero from aboard the papal plane: the microphones were ready, cables laid along the aisle, Vatican television cameras in place. Then everything was dismantled and moved to the section of the plane reserved for the Pope’s entourage, with no explanation or warning.

What happened on earlier flights

According to the Rome daily, on intermediate flights of previous trips, between Lebanon and Turkey and during the African legs, the Pope had given journalists, especially local ones, the chance to ask him questions. On the Argentina–Peru leg, too, correspondents had been advised to be ready and to prepare some questions.

Bruni and Alvarado respond

Journalists asked the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, for an explanation. According to Il Messaggero, Bruni ruled out that a press conference had ever been announced and recalled that questions to the Pope on intermediate flights are not a rule: the press must be ready in any case, because the Pope can decide to speak at any time.

Montserrat Alvarado, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication since 1 November, then stepped in, in her first direct exchange with the Vatican press corps. According to the paper, she first repeated that no press conference had been announced, then took responsibility for the choice: “I decided” (our translation). She said she was there above all to learn and listen, and complained of a climate of suspicion that, in her view, risks damaging relations between the Vatican and journalists.

The question of the questions

The most sensitive point, Il Messaggero writes, concerned the questions: Alvarado reportedly first suggested limiting them to the trip and knowing the topics in advance, which drew objections. Speaking later to another group of correspondents, she clarified: “You are free to ask whatever questions you want, but it would be appropriate to stay on topic, on subjects related to the trip” (our translation). She added: “Of course we must cooperate.”

What we don’t know

No reason has been given for the Pope not meeting the journalists. The paper lists some hypotheses (revising the Peru speeches, fatigue, politically sensitive questions after the Argentine leg) but stresses that none is confirmed. The Holy See has issued no official statement on the episode.

Sources: Il Messaggero, Franca Giansoldati, 12 November 2026.