Montserrat Alvarado Takes Responsibility for Cancelled Papal Press Conference

«Ho deciso io,» said Montserrat Alvarado, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, taking responsibility for a cancelled press conference on a papal flight, Il Messaggero reported.

Microphones, cables, and television cameras were already in place along the aisle of the papal aircraft for a scheduled briefing during the five-hour flight between Buenos Aires and Lima. Vatican television operators dismantled the equipment without prior notice or explanation, preventing Pope Leo XIV from taking questions from accompanying journalists.

The sudden cancellation on the Andean crossing disrupted a customary exchange that had taken place during previous trips between Lebanon, Turkey, and African stops, where journalists were invited to ask questions. Correspondents had prepared questions anticipating a similar opportunity on the South American leg, but the Pope did not appear.

Journalists asked Vatican Press Office Director Matteo Bruni for an explanation, and he said that a press conference had never been officially announced. Bruni told Il Messaggero that questions during intermediate flights are not a codified rule and that reporters must remain ready because the Pope can decide to intervene at any time.

Dissatisfied with that response, the journalists pressed for further details until Montserrat Alvarado intervened. The prefect of the Dicastery for Communication moved between the seats to listen to the international correspondents.

Alvarado initially maintained that no conference was scheduled before stating, «Ho deciso io,» and explaining that she was there to learn and listen while expressing concern over a climate of suspicion. She first suggested limiting questions to the topics of the trip and asking for advance notice of the queries, a proposal that journalists rejected as an attempt to control the interchange.

Alvarado later clarified that journalists remain free to ask any questions. “You are free to ask whatever questions you want, but it would be appropriate to stay on topic, on topics relevant to the trip,” Alvarado told a group of correspondents.

Alvarado assumed her post after working for fourteen years at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where she focused on constitutional rights and human dignity, before joining the Catholic television network EWTN.

“It’s an enormous responsibility,” Alvarado explained in an interview with EWTN News In Depth regarding her appointment. “Communicating Christ to the world is the mandate of the Dicastery for Communication, and this will be done in harmony with the Holy Father. I have no intention of imposing my own vision. On the contrary, I am embracing a vision entrusted to me and I am committed to putting it into practice.”

The unfulfilled briefing leaves open the question of why the session was called off, with the reason for the cancellation remaining unknown. The visit to Argentina concluded with an estimated total attendance of nearly seven million people.

“Of course we have to collaborate,” Alvarado told journalists while taking notes on the aircraft.