Vatican City, Feb 5, 2006 / 22:00 pm
As much of the world’s Muslim community remains up in arms over the publication of what they call offensive cartoons recently depicting the prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper, the Vatican has come out against the both the needless publication as well as a violent response on the part of many Muslims.
The Vatican Press office released a statement Friday in response they said, to numerous requests for an official comment on the controversy.
In three parts, the statement both criticized the publication of the cartoons and the violent reactions sparked thereby.
First, it pointed out that “The right to freedom of thought and expression, sanctioned by the Declaration of the Rights of Man, cannot imply the right to offend the religious sentiments of believers. This principle obviously applies for any religion.”