Pope Francis: ‘You cannot insult the faith of others … freedom of expression has limits’

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pope francis , you cannot insult the faith of othersPope Francis said Thursday that “one cannot kill in the name of God,” but freedom of expression has “limits,” answering questions about the French magazine Charlie Hebdo during a flight from Sri Lanka to the Philippines.

Acknowledging that free speech is a “fundamental human right,” he added that “you cannot insult the faith of others.” As an analogy, he gestured to his travel organizer Alberto Gasparri, who stood at his side, joking, “if Dr. Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch.”

The pope is among those lampooned in Wednesday’s new edition of the magazine, released by the surviving members of its staff. Charlie Hebdo has long reflected a hostility of organized religion in French political culture, and the Catholic Church is a popular target for its crass brand of ridicule.

Some have contrasted the pontiff’s remarks with earlier statements about the attacks in Paris, in which he said terrorism is inspired by a “deviant form of religion,” and that religious fundamentalism “eliminates God… turning him into a mere ideological pretext.” But others see his claims as an expression of Catholic teaching.

“Pope Francis’ comments are simply and obviously true,” said Matthew Schmitz, a Catholic who is deputy editor of the journal First Things, in an interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation. “There will always be some things that cannot be said. Pope Francis is trying to help secularists understand that blasphemy is a real thing that’s deeply and immediately felt by believers.” Moreover, “it’ll be impossible to understand how to have a broadly free and tolerant society unless you’re able to see the visceral way that blasphemy offends religious believers.”

Governments have been quick to uphold the absolute value of free speech in the wake of the Paris attacks. Nevertheless, French authorities have arrested 54 for hate speech since the attacks took place.

Journalists have often been accused of misinterpreting Francis’ statements, such as mistaking advice for the individual conscience as official doctrine. In the same press conference, answering a question about public security at official events, Francis admitted, “I have a defect: a good dose of carelessness.”

Finishing his answer to the French reporter who asked the original question, he suggested a more nuanced response: “let’s go to Paris, let’s speak clearly.”

The daily Caller

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16 responses to “Pope Francis: ‘You cannot insult the faith of others … freedom of expression has limits’”

  1. Jenny Murphy Avatar
    Jenny Murphy

    Of course you can make fun of other faiths. Here’s a hilarious Christian example:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjWMPqk0K94

    1. TheUSequalsTheIS Avatar
      TheUSequalsTheIS

      but in france no one can deny holocaust.

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar

        Why would they? They experienced it.

        1. TheUSequalsTheIS Avatar
          TheUSequalsTheIS

          and now they experience islamic terror…

        2. Maborlz Ez-Hari Avatar
          Maborlz Ez-Hari

          They mastered it.

          1. 5thDrawer Avatar

            Only the Petainists … but that left some wonderful castles intact on the East side …. 😉

      2. Maborlz Ez-Hari Avatar
        Maborlz Ez-Hari

        Id like to see Charlie hebdo try that one, the Islamic reaction would be like a small pimple on the arse compared to the jewish boils on the brain.

        1. TheUSequalsTheIS Avatar
          TheUSequalsTheIS

          most likely, but we will never know bcos freedom of speech is a one way street

  2. AkhouManUki Avatar
    AkhouManUki

    The bottom line is, all people take their religions a little too seriously… but that’s nothing new. The amount of misinformation that is propagated in the name of religion across all religions is staggering – but instead of leading people away from their dependence on religion, we have to coddle everyone, as the Pope is suggesting.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar

      If ‘jokes’ were a reason, the Irish (and the Newfies) should have been bombing the hell out of all of us. 😉

  3. Maborlz Ez-Hari Avatar
    Maborlz Ez-Hari

    Ofcourse you can insult the traditional believers but don’t you dare insult the gay, feminists, nudists, athiest, artist or any other type of activists. Yes let’s go all out on those who believe in God and ridicule the foundations on which society was built on. Yes or fore father’s were so arrogant in their ways we know better. Feminists don’t have kids because they are belittling to them and get in the way of work, socializing and excersise not to mention the weight gain, gay couples think recreation is breeding their designer pooches the last goes on and on. To top it off they blame the state of the world on religion, thats the most ignorant cop out off all. Enjoy your lattes ladies and ladieboys.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar

      You’ll love THIS one about Western Stupidity and ‘political correctness’. I’m ‘almost’ afraid to tell you about this great bacon I got today … double-smoked. (don’t need to cook it)

      Peak Stupidity
      http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-15/peak-stupidity-oup-bans-use-words-pig-and-sausage-avoid-offending-muslims-and-jews

      1. Maborlz Ez-Hari Avatar
        Maborlz Ez-Hari

        Excellent very you 5th. Top stuff.

        1. 5thDrawer Avatar

          (blush) Thanks Mab …. while I’m on a roll, did you catch THIS one??

          About making babies in hordes ….
          http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/world/Humans+needs+change+course+stay+within+planetary/10732151/story.html

  4. nagy_michael2 Avatar
    nagy_michael2

    I agree with the Pope there is no reason to insult the Prophet and its stupid and unfortunate the westerner who insult to piss off muslims or to show the freedom of speech. if you want to insult ISIS by all means but don’t let ISIS use the insult of the Prophet to their advantages. this is exactly what they want and it does no good insulting Prophet Mohamed anyway. it doesn’t make any sense and france is creating division by doing that. its putting the non-extreme muslims under the guns of ISIS. Then they go around and say france welcome all muslims. what the heck.. if you insult their prophet does your welcome make any sense? However Turkey and Iran were showing movies of Jesus that belittle him and make fun of him and insult him. so turkey and iran should be the last countries to even mention any insults against the prophet anyway. but why make the rest of the muslims world uneasy about the whole situations for God’s sake.

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