The Vatican has restricted journalists’ accents to statements that Pope Francis makes in private audiences, the Italian newspaper Il Messagero reports.
Audio recordings of the Pope’s remarks, which have been made available to accredited Vatican journalists, will no longer be provided.
Reporters will receive only prepared texts of the Pope’s talks—and these texts will not be given to journalists in advance. (The texts for the Pope’s weekly public audiences, on Wednesdays and Sundays, will be provided in advance, with an embargo on their use.)
The restrictions are evidently designed to avoid the controversies that have frequently occurred because of the Pope’s penchant for varying from his prepared text and speaking spontaneously at private audiences.