Courtney McGrailThe Arabic version of National Geographic’s August issue, which featured a cover photo of Pope Francis and a lengthy article about the Pontiff, has been banned in Saudi Arabia.
Although there has been no official explanation of the ban, it is understood that officials in the Saudi regime were alarmed by the headline that spoke of Pope Francis’ “silent revolution”.
For the country’s religious authorities, the concept of a religion being open to “change” and modernity, which is how the magazine interprets Pope Francis’ approach, is contrary to their belief in a pure and unchangeable Islam.