Vatican Tries to Clarify Pope’s Comments on Freedom of Speech

iStock/Thinkstock(ROME) — The Vatican is trying to clear up comments made by Pope Francis during his trip to Asia.

Speaking to journalists on his flight from Sri Lanka to the Philippines, the pope said if a friend uses a curse word against his mother that friend can expect a punch. It’s normal, he added, saying that one cannot provoke and one cannot insult the faith of others.

Now, the Vatican is trying to soften the blow. It issued a statement saying that the pope’s expression “is in no way intended to be interpreted as a justification for the violence and terror that took place in Paris last week.”

The statement went on to say that Pope Francis was speaking in a “friendly, intimate manner” and that his words meant there are “limits to humor and satire particularly in the ways that we speak about matters of faith and belief.”

Critics, however, say the pope’s comments fly in the face of the Christian phrase “turn the other cheek” in the face of insult, and that despite his condemnation of violence in the name of religion, give the wrong message.

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