Pope Francis arrives for a Mass for the clergy and religious at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception during his visit in Manila, Philippines on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. AP MANILA, Philippines — What ever happened to “turning the other cheek?” Pope Francis made headlines when he said en route to the Philippines that there were limits to free speech, especially when it ridicules or insults someone’s faith. But he raised even more eyebrows when he explained his point by saying that if a good friend cursed out his mother he could “expect a punch” in return. The Vatican quickly insisted that Francis was by no means justifying the terrorist attack against the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had published inflammatory cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. And Francis, who has condemned all violence committed in God’s name, stressed that the attacks were an “aberration.” But his response did pose the question about Jesus’ famous exhortation to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount — and whether for a pope of Italian origin, turning the other cheek only goes so far when the matter concerns his beloved “Mamma.” “Obviously he wasn’t justifying violence,” the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Friday. “He spoke about a spontaneous reaction that you can have when you feel profoundly offended. In this sense, your right to be respected has been put in question.” The Rev. Robert Gahl, a moral theologian at Rome’s Pontifical Holy Cross University, noted that Francis didn’t say Read More …
