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Vatican Condemns Hate Speech at UN Conference

4:09 AM ETConfirmed

Faith Desk

In Short: At the Global Conference on Promoting Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance in Countering Hate Speech, the Vatican's top diplomat to the United Nations delivered a stern warning against hate speech.

At the Global Conference on Promoting Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance in Countering Hate Speech, the Vatican's top diplomat to the United Nations delivered a stern warning against hate speech.

Archbishop El-Kassis stated that hate speech, whether directed against individuals or communities based on religion, ethnicity, nationality, or other characteristics, 'poisons public discourse, inflames division, and too often prepares the ground for violence and persecution.

The Vatican's condemnation of hate speech comes as Pope Leo XIV marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, calling for a renewed commitment to peace and reflecting on the roots of violence in poverty and injustice.

Archbishop El-Kassis further highlighted that hate speech contradicts the 'foundational truth' of loving one's neighbor, creating a 'moral imperative to reject every form of intolerance, discrimination, and hate speech that wounds the human family and undermines the conditions for peaceful coexistence.

The Vatican's renewed focus on peace and the condemnation of hate speech underscores the institution's commitment to fostering interreligious and intercultural dialogue and tolerance.

The Pope's message of peace and the Vatican's stance against hate speech reflect a broader effort to address the growing challenges of intolerance and division in the world.

What this adds

Background

What's confirmed

• He delivered the address in New York at the Global Conference on Promoting Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance in Countering Hate Speech.
• “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,” El-Kassis stated in his remarks.
• (OSV News) — Hate speech “contradicts the commandment to love one’s neighbor,” said the Vatican’s top diplomat to the United Nations.
• That “foundational truth” creates “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,” said Archbishop el-Kassis.
• VATICAN CITY – Pope Leo XIV, history's first American pope, called for a renewed commitment to peace on Sunday as he marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on his home country.
• Vatican News on Sunday republished excerpts of his first homily as superior, delivered on Sept.
• "Hatred and violence will continue to grow as long as so many people are forced to live in extreme poverty and are oppressed by so many forms of injustice.” Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc.
• “Two days ago marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States of America. I renew my prayers for those who lost their lives and for those who continue to bear the wounds of that tragic day. At a time when conflict and violence afflict so many of our brothers and sisters, I invite everyone to pray that the Lord will bestow his gift of peace upon the world,” he said.
• VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV remembered the victims of the Sept.
• 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on Sunday and renewed his appeal for peace amid conflicts and violence around the world.
• Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, Sept.9, 2026.
• Vatican News republished excerpts from his first homily after that, where he reflected on the violence and its roots in poverty and injustice.

What's still developing

• He also warned against threats to this dignity, including hate speech.
• “The violence that the world witnessed last week in the United States is a tragic expression of a series of problems that are becoming increasingly acute everywhere. Hatred and violence will continue to grow as long as so many people are forced to live in extreme poverty and are oppressed by so many forms of injustice,” Father Prevost said in his homily in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, according to Vatican News.
• 11, 2001, in his Sunday Angelus address, praying for “those who continue to bear the wounds of that tragic day.” Speaking from the window of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace Sept.
• “While many seek revenge,” he said, “Augustinians must bear witness to the Gospel and to its values of unity, dialogue, peace, and reconciliation.” Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News.
• Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus on Sept.
• "Hatred and violence will continue to grow as long as so many people are forced to live in extreme poverty and are oppressed by so many forms of injustice." Two popes have visited Ground Zero: Pope Benedict in 2008 and Pope Francis in 2015.
• Pope Leo XIV prays the Angelus on Sunday, 20 Sept. 2026, in the Vatican. (Image ©Vatican Media) Pope Leo XIV called for international solidarity with Somalia, where ongoing violence and extreme weather are making an already severe humanitarian crisis even worse.

Sources

• Ewtnnewslink
• OSV Newslink
• Ucanewslink
• Wslslink
• Washingtonexaminerlink
• Ewtnvaticanlink
• OSV Newslink
• 2Newslink
• Cbcpnewslink
• Ncregisterlink
• Abcnewslink
• CBS Newslink
• Tdtnewslink
• Timesofisraellink
• Cruxnowlink
• WarpBeat — background on Vatican Diplomat Condemns Hate Speech at UN Conference link
• United Nations — video link