Vatican now says ‘hate speech’ can’t be protected

(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo’s emissary to the United Nations has stated that there are limits to free speech.

Archbishop Christophe Z. El Kassis, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, made a speech yesterday at an interreligious dialogue conference in New York City. Repeating the Catholic doctrine that “every human person is created in the image and likeness of God and possesses an inviolable dignity,” the nuncio intimated that this directs what people can say about each other.

He continued:

The Holy See reaffirms that every human person is created in the image and likeness of God and possesses an inviolable dignity that no ideology, ideology of hatred, or expression of contempt may diminish. From this foundational truth flows the moral imperative to reject every form of intolerance, discrimination, and hate speech that wounds the human family and undermines the conditions for peaceful coexistence.

Hate speech – whether directed against individuals or communities on the basis of their religion, ethnicity, nationality, or any other characteristic – contradicts the commandment to love one’s neighbor, poisons public discourse, inflames division, and too often prepares the ground for violence and persecution.

Later he stated, “Speech that deliberately incites hatred or violence cannot claim the protection of liberty.” 

A two-edged sword

However, in 2024, the Vatican stressed at the U.N. that, “Legislation originally aimed at combatting ‘hate speech,’ is often instrumentalized to challenge the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, leading to censorship and ‘compelled speech.’”

Attempts to establish “new rights” that question the sacredness of every human life are “not always consistent with what is truly good for the human person,” said Archbishop Ettore Balestrero – then serving as the Vatican’s U.N. observer – addressing the 55th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva In February 2024.

As such, the Vatican’s policy request at the U.N. is a two-edged sword, which may do as much harm as good when it comes to some of the most important social issues of our era. Abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, and transgenderism all ignore the inherent dignity of humanity, yet are frequently promoted at the U.N. and its member countries in the “woke” western world, where any opposition is deemed as “hate speech” and “phobic.” 

The full text of Archbishop El Kassis’ talk can be read here.