Story highlights
- Vatican newspaper: "Using God to justify hatred is an authentic blasphemy, as Pope Francis repeatedly said"
- Riss, Charlie Hebdo's head of publication: "Maybe we should learn to live with a little less of God"
Watch CNN's exclusive interview with Laurent Sourisseau, Charlie Hebdo's head of publication, on Amanpour on January 6 at 2pm ET (8pm CET)
(CNN)French magazine Charlie Hebdo's front covers are known to be provocative. But now they've irritated the Vatican -- or at least its newspaper.
One day ahead of the anniversary of the terrorist attack on the publication's headquarters in Paris that killed 12 people, Charlie Hebdo released 1 million copies of a special edition.
The front cover features a bearded man, apparently representative of God, splattered in blood and carrying an assault rifle over his shoulder. The headline translates as: "One year after: The assassin is still out there."
In its commentary this week, L'Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the Vatican state, said it's not impressed.
"This episode isn't something new because, behind the deceitful flag of an uncompromising secularism, the French magazine once again forgets what religious leaders of different beliefs have been repeating for a long time to reject violence in the name of religion.
Photos: Terror attack in Paris
Photos: Terror attack in Paris
Gunmen face off with police officers in Paris on Wednesday, January 7. A terrorist attack at the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine, left at least 12 people dead.
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Photos: Terror attack in Paris
French authorities released photographs of main suspects Said Kouachi, left, and Cherif Kouachi, warning that both could be armed and dangerous. A third suspect, Hamyd Mourad, has surrendered to police, according to the news agency Agence France-Presse.
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Gunmen step out of a car to shoot and kill a police officer near the Charlie Hebdo office on January 7.
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Masked gunmen run toward a victim.
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An injured man is carried away from the scene of the shooting.
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Ambulances and police officers gather in front of the building.
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An injured man is taken away for medical care.
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A bullet hole is seen in a window of the magazine's building.
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Firefighters and police officers gather in front of the magazine's office. The magazine had spurred protests in the past after publishing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. Its office was set afire in November 2011.
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A police car sits riddled with bullets.
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People hug each other outside the magazine's building after the attack.
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French President Francois Hollande, center, and Cazeneuve, right, arrive at the scene of the shooting.
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A woman cries outside the magazine's building.
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Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve arrive at the scene.
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A police officer checks passing cars in Paris after the attack.
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Police investigate the scene of the shooting.
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Police respond at the scene of the shooting.
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French soldiers patrol around the Eiffel Tower.
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Firefighters and police officers gather in front of the magazine's building.
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Police officers inspect evidence at the scene of the shooting.
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Police officers take security measures near the scene of the shooting.
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Police officers and forensics experts examine the car used by the gunmen.
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A tow truck lifts the car used by the gunmen.
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People stand outside the magazine headquarters.
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Police carry a body from the scene of the shooting.
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Blood is seen on the floor and desks in the Charlie Hebdo newsroom on January 7.
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"Using God to justify hatred is an authentic blasphemy, as Pope Francis repeatedly said."
But in an exclusive interview on CNN's Amanpour, Laurent Sourisseau, Charlie Hebdo's head of publication, who goes by the nickname of Riss, stands by the illustration. "It is a caricature representing the symbolic figure of God," he explains.
"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."
Following the attack last year, Charlie Hebdo released an edition with a sketch of the Prophet Mohammed on the cover, looking solemn and holding up a sign that read: "Je suis Charlie," or "I am Charlie" in French. The phrase was widely shared on social media in support for the magazine.
Sourisseau clarifies who is depicted on the latest cover. "No, this is not Mohammed. It's above him. It's the God of all those who have faith."
