Pope Francis gave a fresh perspective of faith and recent terrorism incidents related to religion while aboard Sri Lanka Airlines on his way to a 5-day apostolic visit to the Philippines.

"One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people's faith, one cannot make fun of faith," the pontiff said in a plane news conference.

Like Us on Facebook

He adds, that in exercising freedom of expression, everyone should also set limits, especially when trodding on religious issues. The pope said this in reference to the Paris Massacre that resulted in the death of 12 staff of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

"There is a limit. Every religion has its dignity ... in freedom of expression, there are limits," Pope Francis stated.

The further illustrate his point, Pope Francis pointed to his aide Alberto Gasparri and made a hypothetical scenario wherein Gasparri would insult his mother. The pope said if Gasparri did that, he would punch the man.

Vatican spokesman Fr. Thomas Rosica clarified in an email, quoted by Bloomberg, "His words mean there are limits to humor and satire particularly in the ways that we speak about matters of faith and belief."

In saying so, Pope Francis at the same time emphasized that it is wrong to kill people in the name of religion or God. He called this act an "aberration."

From Sri Lanka where he canonized the country's first saint, the pope arrived on Thursday night in the Philippines after a 6-hour flight with media.

He was met warmly by thousands of Filipinos who waited since morning on the roads where the popemobile passed from the airport to the Apostolic Nunciature where he will stay for the duration of his first visit to Asia's only Catholic-majority nation.

Pope Francis' itinerary includes meeting with families, the youth, the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) and a farewell mass expected to attract 8 million people and break the 5 million record set by Pope John Paul II in the 1995 World Youth Day mass at the same venue.

TagsPope Francis, Paris massacre, Charlie Hebdo, Papal visit