The popular Pope Francis is taking some hits himself after some lighthearted comments that included a pretend punch to a colleague. The comments came while trying to make the point that free speech should have some limits, including on the right to insult another’s faith.
Speaking Thursday to reporters on the plane ride to the Philippines, the Pope gestured with a fake punch to demonstrate what he would do if someone were to say “a swear word against my mother.”
Most journalists interpreted it as a joke, not a justification of violence, especially since the Pope had also just forcefully stated that “one cannot kill in the name of God.”
Still, the Vatican felt the need to clarify, in response to a later CNN question about the punch, that his words were “spoken colloquially” and consistent with the Pope’s “free style of speech.”
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