Vatican Daily Newspaper Says Charlie Hebdo Anniversary Edition Cover Disrespects Believers’ Faith

Satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo has released its anniversary edition cover to commemorate the first year of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris. The Guardian reported Monday that the cover featured a bearded man, who reportedly represents God, with a Kalashnikov (weapon) hanging over his shoulder.

The cover also displayed text that said, "One year on: the assassin is still out there."

Reports revealed that the French magazine produced one million copies of the commemorative anniversary issue.

On the other hand, a Vatican newspaper criticized the cover of the latest Charlie Hebdo issue for presenting God as an armed killer, as per Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday.

"Behind the deceptive flag of an uncompromising secularism, the French weekly once again forgets what religious leaders of every faith have been urging for ages - to reject violence in the name of religion and that using God to justify hatred is a genuine blasphemy," L'Osservatore Romano wrote.

"Charlie Hebdo's move shows the sad paradox of a world which is increasingly sensitive about being politically correct to the point of being ridiculous but does not want to recognize or respect believers' faith in God, regardless of their religion."

The Charlie Hebdo shooting took place around 11 p.m. of Jan. 7, 2015. Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi stormed into the offices of the French publication and killed 12 people,eight of which were staff members of the magazine.

Reports indicated that al-Qaida's affiliate group in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility of the attack.

A week after the incident, Pope Francis expressed his dismay and disapproval of the Charlie Hebdo shooting. He also reminded that religion should not be ridiculed.

"To kill in the name of God is an absurdity," Pope Francis said.

He added, "If a good friend speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched, and that's normal. You cannot provoke, you cannot insult other people's faith, you cannot mock it."