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

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.”