Pope Francis (Photo : Reuters)
En route to the Philippines on Jan. 15, Thursday, Pope Francis weighed in on the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris, France and the debate over freedom of speech stirred thereafter.
The Pope pointed out that free speech does not give people the right to "insult other people's faith," CNN reported.
However, this does not necessarily mean that Pope Francis is supporting the terrorists behind the Charlie Hebdo attacks. He emphasized that nobody should "kill in the name of God" and clarified that there was no excuse for the murder of 17 people in three different terror attacks in Paris, which included shooting around and in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo offices.
The terror attacks were connected to Islamist extremists although their involvement in Charlie Hebdo shooting is yet to be confirmed.
For Pope Francis, killing in the name of God is "an aberration" and a person should neither make war nor kill in the name of his own religion.
While the Pope did not specifically mention Charlie Hebdo or its Mohammed cartoon depictions, he suggested that freedom of expression has limits and should not be abused.
After the terror attacks, Charlie Hebdo apparently did not back down. Previously, it issued a cover that shows Mohammed again, but this time, crying and holding a sign with the French words "Je suis Charlie," which means "I am Charlie."
Currently, Charlie Hebdo writes on its website, "La liberte est un droit d'expression
Charlie Hebdo a besoin de vous pour survivre. Soutenez Charlie Hebdo en faisant un don!" which means "The freedom of expression is a right. Charlie Hebdo needs you to survive, Support Charlie Hebdo by making a donation."
