British PM on Pope comments: 'There is a right to cause offence'

British PM on Pope comments: 'There is a right to cause offence'.(BBC).

Prime Minister David Cameron has disagreed with a comment made by Pope Francis, who warned against mocking others' religions.

Following the attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo, the Pope made his point by saying someone who insulted his mother could "expect to get punched".

But Mr Cameron, speaking to CBS News, said the media had the right to publish material that was offensive to some.

Twelve people were killed by militant Islamists in the attack in Paris.

A policewoman and four people at a kosher supermarket died in separate attacks in the French capital earlier this month.

'Right to offence' Speaking to the Face the Nation programme on the American TV channel CBS, Mr Cameron was asked how to "find the right balance" after the Pope defended freedom of expression but said there were limits to freedom of speech.

The pontiff had said religions should be treated with respect, so that people's faiths were not insulted or ridiculed.

Mr Cameron replied: "I think in a free society, there is a right to cause offence about someone's religion.

"I'm a Christian - if someone says something offensive about Jesus, I might find that offensive, but in a free society I don't have a right to, sort of, wreak my vengeance on them."

He said as long as publications acted within the law, they had the right to publish any material, even if it was offensive to some.

Former Bishop of Oxford Richard Harries, writing in the Independent on Sunday, also suggested the Pope had been wrong to make the comments.

He said: "I am a great admirer of the Pope, but when, to make the proper point that we should not insult the faith of others, he said his assistant could 'expect a punch' if he cursed his mother, I was aghast.

"The reference to a punch could easily be taken for a justification of violence in response to insult." Hmmm.....HEAR ! HEAR !

Pope Francis I advocating use of Violence?

Pope Francis I advocating use of Violence? (AFP).

Pope Francis said Thursday there are limits to freedom of expression, especially when it insults or ridicules someone's faith.

Francis spoke about the Paris terror attacks while en route to the Philippines, defending free speech as not only a fundamental human right but a duty to speak one's mind for the sake of the common good.

But he said there were limits.

By way of example, he referred to Alberto Gasparri, who organizes papal trips and was standing by his side aboard the papal plane.

"If my good friend Dr. Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch," Francis said, throwing a pretend punch his way. "It's normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others."

Many people around the world have defended the right of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to publish inflammatory cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed in the wake of the massacre by Islamic extremists at its Paris offices and subsequent attack on a kosher supermarket in which three gunmen killed 17 people.

But recently the Vatican and four prominent French imams issued a joint declaration that denounced the attacks but also urged the media to treat religions with respect.

Francis, who has urged Muslim leaders in particular to speak out against Islamic extremism, went a step further when asked by a French journalist about whether there were limits when freedom of expression meets freedom of religion.

Francis insisted that it was an "aberration" to kill in the name of God and said religion can never be used to justify violence.

But he said there was a limit to free speech when it concerned offending someone's religious beliefs.

"There are so many people who speak badly about religions or other religions, who make fun of them, who make a game out of the religions of others," he said. "They are provocateurs. And what happens to them is what would happen to Dr. Gasparri if he says a curse word against my mother. There is a limit."


Hmmm.....The Jesuits have always loved violence, mothers used to scare kids with 'If you don't behave i'll send you to the Jesuit school'..... Now again threatening to punch people.

I'll go with the previous Pope: “Violence does not build up the kingdom of God, the kingdom of humanity. On the contrary, it is a favorite instrument of the Antichrist, however idealistic its religious motivation may be,” Pope Benedict XVI.


For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Colossians 3:13 NIV

Did the Pope forgot that? "If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also." Matthew 5:39 pic.twitter.com/gg0WNGJtn0
— Isabelle Daniel (@isabelledaniel) January 15, 2015

Pope threatens to punch friend if he curses his mother. Hmmm...NEW AGE of Christianity? Romans 5:8 http://t.co/e1kQJeT2ih
— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) January 15, 2015