The Vatican countered media reports on Monday that identified it as the next target of an Islamist attack. The reports were published in a number of Italian newspapers, including La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, on the same day that the Vatican's statement was made.
The Italian publications claimed that the American CIA and Israel's secret service, Mossad, delivered a warning to both Italian and Vatican authorities regarding a plan in which an attack would be made on the Vatican.
The Vatican's representative, Father Federico Lombardi, made it clear that a warning had not been issued, and that the Vatican's security officials continued to operate in accordance with a normal status.
Also on Monday, the Paris terrorists attacks were condemned by Pope Francis in an official address. Before an annual meeting attended by diplomats from 180 countries that are accredited to the Vatican, the Catholic leader said:
"Violence is always the product of a falsification of religion, its use a pretext for ideological schemes whose only goal is power over others".
Pope Francis also implored Muslim leaders to openly speak against faith interpretations in which God's name is used as a justification of violent actions.
In the speech, which is informally called the Pope's "State of the World" address, Pope Francis also spoke about religious fundamentalism, saying that it "eliminates God himself" before it leads to the death of human beings.