"A country filled with pedophiles and stolen art" - Joe Rogan curious why Vatican isn't subjected to public outrage

The Vatican (left), Joe Rogan (right) [Image via @vaticanmuseums on Instagram]

Podcaster, stand-up comic, and UFC commentator Joe Rogan has never shied away from expressing his opinion, no matter how controversial it may be. This was demonstrated extensively through the COVID-19 pandemic when Rogan pushed back against the mainstream media narrative and polarized audiences in the process.

In episode 1848 of his wildly popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, the UFC commentator spoke with Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin, hosts of the British podcast TRIGGERnometry. While discussing issues that people in America and the UK protested over, Rogan brought up the Catholic church and how no one opposed the Vatican:

"The outrage is not balanced... what about the Catholic church? Why isn't everybody really freaking about - I was just in Italy, and one of the things that's nuts is the Vatican is a country. It's a country filled with pedophiles. It's a country filled with pedophiles and stolen art. It's a small... like 100 acre country inside of a city filled with pedophiles."

Rogan's guests pointed out that they'd have to prove such statements in the UK owing to libel laws, but America allows unrestricted freedom of speech. Joe Rogan responded by saying that this could be proven. As per a BBC report, an inquiry found that over 216,000 children, primarily boys, had been abused by members of the clergy in the French Catholic Church since 1950.

Spain's Catholic Church announced an investigation into child abuse by clergy, after pressure, saying it is "deeply saddened" by the abuse.

Recent investigations identified over 1,200 victims in Spain, and over 216,000 abuse cases involving Catholic clergy in Germany and France. https://t.co/dcJEmsZCdX

It's worth noting that in 2021, Pope Francis altered the Roman Catholic Church's laws to explicitly outlaw child sexual abuse.

Listen to the segment and full episode below:

Joe Rogan thinks atheists substitute God for other things

Despite being raised in a Roman Catholic family, Rogan has largely identified as agnostic. In an appearance on the Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson podcast, the podcaster discussed atheists and noted that they might substitute God for other things:

"That's what a lot of people believe the problem is. It's that a lot of people don't have God and they substitute God for other things that mimic the same kind of control that religion has. And ideologies are one of those things."

It's worth noting, though, that Rogan is not against atheists, spirituality, or even the concept of religion, for that matter. He is someone who likes to evaluate all sides of a topic and make observations, calling them as he sees them.

Watch Joe Rogan on Mike Tyson's podcast below:

In an old video, Rogan can be seen talking about his understanding of the idea of religion but criticizing those who seem to think their faith is the only right path to follow.

Watch the clip below: