VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A Vatican cardinal on Friday condemned cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in European newspapers, saying satire that offended groups and their most sacred symbols was abusive.

Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, a retired Vatican diplomat who has had many dealings with Arab countries, told an Italian newspaper that Western culture had to know its limits.

"Freedom is a great virtue but it must be shared and it must not be unilateral," said Silvestrini.

"Freedom of satire that offends the feelings of others becomes an abuse, and here we are talking about nothing less than the feelings of entire peoples who have seen their supreme symbols affected," he told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Secular society had no excuse to insult religious symbols or God, Silvestrini said.

"One can understand satire about a priest but not about God. As far as Islam is concerned one might be able to understand satire about customs and behaviour but not about the Koran, Allah, or The Prophet," he said.

Caricatures of the Prophet have sparked outrage across the Islamic world and a fierce debate about free speech.

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