The Pope hits out at 'cancel culture' saying it is 'rewriting history'

The Pope has delivered a speech at the Vatican in which he criticised “cancel culture”, claiming it eliminates “all sense of identity”.

In his annual address to ambassadors accredited to the Vatican on Monday, the Pope said “a kind of one-track thinking is taking shape, one constrained to deny history or, worse yet, to rewrite it”.

Critics have coined the term "cancel culture" for the toppling of statues of prominent figures who have historically been associated with colonialism and slavery.

The Pope said “a mindset that rejects the natural foundations of humanity and the cultural roots that constitute the identity of many peoples” had emerged from "cancel culture".

He said this caused the result of “a form of ideological colonisation, one that leaves no room for freedom of expression and is now taking the form of the ‘cancel culture’ invading many circles and public institutions”.

He added: “Under the guise of defending diversity, it ends up cancelling all sense of identity, with the risk of silencing positions that defend a respectful and balanced understanding of various sensibilities.”

The Pope was giving his annual speech to outline the papacy’s foreign policy goals.

Diplomacy should be “truly inclusive, not cancelling but cherishing the differences that have historically marked various peoples”, said Pope Francis.