Pope Francis has slammed cancel culture as part of his annual "state of the world" address at the Vatican, saying the phenomenon propagates "one-track thinking".

As part of his address on Monday, January 10, the pope spoke before diplomats from 183 countries and said that cancel culture "leaves no space for freedom of expression."

The remarks come after the European Union in November drafted a document calling for officials to replace the word "Christmas" with "holiday season".

Per The Guardian, the document, which is now under revision, was regarded by some critics as having stemmed from cancel culture. As such, they saw it as an attempt to cancel Christmas.

While the Pope refrained from naming any particular examples of cancel culture, he argued that "one-track thinking" from today's point of view doesn't account for the context of the past.

In his speech, he referred to cancel culture as "a form of ideological colonization — one that leaves no room for freedom of expression."

"Cancel culture is invading many circles and public institutions," he said in the address. "As a result, agendas are increasingly dictated by a mindset that rejects the natural foundations of humanity and the cultural roots that constitute the identity of many people."

He then proceeded to argue that cancel culture, "under the guise of defending diversity," ends up "canceling all sense of identity."

Credit: AF archive / Alamy

"Diplomacy is called to be truly inclusive, not canceling but cherishing the differences and sensibilities that have historically marked various peoples," Pope Francis added.

Elsewhere in the address, the Pope condemned the spread of "baseless" misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.

This comes after Pope Francis said last week that couples who choose to have pets over children are "selfish".

"Today we see a form of selfishness," he said at the Vatican. "We see that some people do not want to have a child."

"Sometimes they have one, and that's it, but they have dogs and cats that take the place of children. This may make people laugh but it is a reality," he went on to say.

Featured image credit: dpa picture alliance / Alamy

Cancel culture has become quite a common phenomenon in the world of social media.

These days, if a public figure, celebrity, or company does something that is deemed offensive by social media users, people will swiftly and verbally withdraw support for the accused in an attempt to "cancel" them.

This year, we have seen the hashtag "#CancelJKRowling" circulated on social media as a result of comments she made that were deemed to be transphobic.

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Ragnbogen/status/1269416122803077120]]

And upon the release of the Hamilton on Disney+ last month, many people tweeted the hashtag "#CancelHamilton" due to the musical's portrayal of slave owners.

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/MichaelRapaport/status/1279485450667692032]]

However, British comedian and actor Ricky Gervais has now spoken out about the rise of cancel culture, and his thoughts on the online shaming trend.

Speaking to The Metro, Gervais said: "Everyone’s got a different definition of cancel culture.

"If it is choosing not to watch a comedian because you don’t like them, that’s everyone’s right. But when people are trying to get someone fired because they don’t like their opinion about something that’s nothing to do with their job, that’s what I call cancel culture and that’s not cool.

"You turning off your own TV isn’t censorship. You trying to get other people to turn off their TV, because you don’t like something they’re watching, that’s different."

How long with Gervais be able to get away with jokes like these:

[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/rW4sj1Cs-Q0L14jDU.mp4||rW4sj1Cs]]

The 59-year-old star then explained that the trend becoming detrimental to people's freedom of speech. He said:

"Everyone’s allowed to call you an a******e, everyone’s allowed to stop watching your stuff, everyone’s allowed to burn your DVDs, but you shouldn’t have to go to court for saying a joke that someone didn’t like.

"And that’s what we get dangerously close to. If you don’t agree to someone’s right to say something you don’t agree with, you don’t agree with freedom of speech."

[[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

Referencing a tweet he posted about former UK prime minister Winston Churchill, The Office creator then explained that people can do something that is "wrong" - but that doesn't make everything that they do "wrong".

Gervais said: "I did a tweet a month ago about freedom of speech, quoting Winston Churchill. Someone came back with, 'You know he was a white supremacist?' And I wrote back, 'Not in that tweet he isn’t'.

"It’s like if someone did something once that’s wrong, everything they did was wrong. ‘You are allowed to have things in common with bad people as long it’s not the bad things. I’m a vegetarian and I love dogs, like Hitler. But the only thing I have in common with Hitler are the good bits!"

Let us know your thoughts on cancel culture in the comments section!

Ricky Gervais has described Cancel Culture as a "weird sort of fascism" in an interview with talkRadio.

This comes as a large number of celebrities have found themselves "canceled" for past or recent behavior that has been deemed unacceptable by the masses.

Canceling is typically done on social media, with a recent example being J.K. Rowling, who was "canceled" after expressing controversial views about transgender people that had her branded a TERF (a trans-exclusionary radical feminist).

Rowling's comments resulted in the hashtag '#CancelJKRowling' trending on Twitter.

However, in Gervais' opinion, cancel culture creates an "us versus them" dynamic that is eroding people's right to free speech.

[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/rW4sj1Cs-Q0L14jDU.mp4||rW4sj1Cs]]

In the talkRadio interview, the comedian and actor said cancel culture is "new weird sort of fascism", centered around people not knowing "what you can say and what you can't say".

He continued: "It's a really weird thing that there's this new trendy myth that people who want free speech want it to say awful things all the time, which just isn't true. It protects everyone…

"The two catastrophic problems with the term 'hate speech' is, one, what constitutes hate speech? Everyone disagrees. There's no consensus on what hate speech is.

"Two, who decides? And there’s the real rub because obviously the people who think they want to close down free speech because it's bad are the fascists. It's a really weird, mixed-up idea that these people hide behind a shield of goodness."

[[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CB8vJhxnEyt/]]

Gervais claimed that people can't win on social media and used extreme examples to illustrate this point, claiming that anyone who is "mildly left-wing on Twitter" is Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky, and anyone who is "mildly conservative" is Hitler.

The Extras star added that if you're "centrist and you look at both arguments" then you're a coward and added his classic mantra: "Just because you're offended it doesn't mean you're right."

This comes after Gervais discussed whether or not The Office, which first aired back in 2001 would succeed in 2020.

He said that while some people may "love it and get it", "mob rule" would result in those in charge of the show's creation and distribution being "bullied" by those who may find it offensive.

[[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CCb6wtDJHZa/]]

Gervais said that ultimately, it's not a good thing to live in a world where people are afraid to speak their minds because they are afraid of causing offense and being canceled.

He explained: "Offence is good because it makes you think and it makes you come up with an argument. And what's happened recently is that 'I'm offended' has replaced an argument."

Pope Francis has slammed those who choose not to wear a face mask amid the ongoing pandemic, claiming they're "in their own little world of interests".

As reported by The Guardian, The Pope shared his thoughts in a new book, in which he took aim at those protesting against the restrictions and measures put in place to help curb the spread of Covid-19.

In the book, 83-year-old Pope Francis writes: "Some groups protested, refusing to keep their distance, marching against travel restrictions – as if measures that governments must impose for the good of their people constitute some kind of political assault on autonomy or personal freedom."

[[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

The Pope further condemned those who claim "that being forced to wear a mask is an unwarranted imposition by the state", by contrasting them with those who protested the death of George Floyd back in May 25.

He wrote: "You'll never find such people protesting the death of George Floyd, or joining a demonstration because there are shantytowns where children lack water or education, or because there are whole families who have lost their income."

It would seem The Pope has always preferred to keep his hands clean and maintain a safe distance:

[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/EzTTJ7Q1-Q0L14jDU.mp4||EzTTJ7Q1]]

Stating that anti-maskers lack the "healthy indignation" shown by others, The Pope added: "On such matters they would never protest; they are incapable of moving outside of their own little world of interests."

Pope Francis' comments are featured in the book, Let Us Dream: A Path to a Better Future - which is derived from his conversations with British biographer Austen Ivereigh. The book focuses primarily on His Holiness' response to the coronavirus pandemic.

[[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

In the book, The Pope also responds to the various ways governments around the world responded to the crisis. He states: "With some exceptions, governments have made great efforts to put the wellbeing of their people first, acting decisively to protect health and to save lives."

However, Pope Francis then added that some world leaders had chosen to put their nation's economy before its people, declaring: "Those governments have mortgaged their people."

Elsewhere in the book, per the Associated Press, The Pope addressed the "horrendous" killing of George Floyd.

[[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

Referring to Floyd by name, Francis said: "Abuse is a gross violation of human dignity that we cannot allow and which we must continue to struggle against."

Despite his firm stance, Pope Francis did condemn the destruction of Confederate statues seen throughout the Black Lives Matter protests.

Urging people to instead inspire change through debate, The Pope states: "Amputating history can make us lose our memory, which is one of the few remedies we have against repeating the mistakes of the past."

Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future is set to be released on December 1.

Pope Francis has hit out at couples who choose to have pets rather than children.

Calling those particular couples "selfish", Francis called for parents to have more offspring to solve the West's "demographic winter".

Speaking on parenthood during a general audience at the Vatican, Francis lamented that pets "sometimes take the place of children" in society.

Credit: Marco Campagna / Alamy

"Today we see a form of selfishness," he said. "We see that some people do not want to have a child."

"Sometimes they have one, and that's it, but they have dogs and cats that take the place of children. This may make people laugh but it is a reality," he added.

The practice said the head of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics, "is a denial of fatherhood and motherhood and diminishes us, takes away our humanity."

He said couples should have more children to address the "demographic winter" in much of the West and called for couples who can't have children to be open to adoption.

Credit: PA Images / Alamy

Meaning, "civilization grows old without humanity because we lose the richness of fatherhood and motherhood, and it is the country that suffers", the pontiff said at the Paul VI Hall.

The pope has lately made several controversial remarks, with the most recent being that said sex outside of marriage is not the "most serious" sin.

The leader of the Catholic Church was speaking with reporters on a flight from Italy to Greece on Monday, December 6, when he made the groundbreaking remarks.

The Pope told the reporters: "Sins of the flesh are not the most serious."

Credit: AF archive / Alamy

Francis, who has held the position of Pope and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 2013, went on to say that pride and hatred are "the most serious" of sins.

The question and answer session comes after the Archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, stepped down from his role earlier this month after a French publication claimed he had entered into an illicit relationship with a woman.

Archbishops and senior members of the Catholic Church are supposed to partake in clerical celibacy, meaning they cannot have sex.

Featured image credit: dpa picture alliance / Alamy