French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo found itself under attack by terrorists in January 2015 in an incident that led to the death of 12 staff members. Now one year later, the publication finds itself under attack by a new "enemy": The Vatican.
In a special anniversary addition of the newspaper, its front cover features a bearded man, a representation of God, with blood splattered on parts of his clothing and beard, and an assault rifle on his back. Above the picture reads the headline, "One year after: The assassin is still out there," according to the United Press International.
In response, the Vatican, or at least its newspaper, the L'Osservatore Romano, condemned Charlie Hebdo's portrayal of god, accusing it of trying to "manipulate faith."
"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," the newspaper wrote in a short commentary, according to Reuters.
"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," it added.
Despite being criticized, Charlie Hebdo remained openly defiant. Laurent Sourisseau, the publication's head of staff, argued that the illustration "is a caricature representing the symbolic figure of God," CNN reported.
"To us, it's the very idea of God that may have killed our friends a year ago. So we wanted to widen our vision of things. Faith is not always peaceful. Maybe we should learn to live with a little less of God," he said.
Charlie Hebdo has received quite a bit of flak for its latest cover, and the entire incident is a far cry from the cover it released last year after the attack occurred. At the time, the magazine released an edition with a sketch of the Prophet Mohammed on the cover, holding a sign that read, "Je suis Charlie," meaning "I am Charlie." The phrase was used as worldwide slogan of defiance against fear of terrorism and a way to show support for Charlie Hebdo and the 12 lives that were claimed in the attack.
