Pope Francis has warned against “cancel culture,” which he said has been “invading many circles and public institutions.” He was making his annual address to the Vatican’s diplomatic corps.

The pope slammed those who operate under the “guise of defending diversity” and in the process eliminate “all sense of identity,” which he said risks “silencing positions that defend a respectful and balanced understanding of various sensibilities.”

Diplomacy, he told representatives from the 183 countries accredited to the Holy See, is “called to be truly inclusive, not cancelling but cherishing the differences and sensibilities that have historically marked various peoples.”

The pope’s pointed remarks came during an address often referred to as his “State of the World,” wherein he made a strong plea for multilateral diplomacy at a time of significant global crises amid increased social fragmentation.