VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Monday called for the release of imprisoned journalists and affirmed the “precious gift of free speech and the press” in an audience with some of the 6,000 journalists who descended on Rome to cover his election as the first American pontiff.

During a meeting between the new American pope and international media on Monday, journalists offered to play doubles, or to organize a charity match. Leo seemed game “but we can’t invite Sinner,” he said in an apparent reference to the English meaning of Sinner’s last name.