Pope used vulgar Italian word to refer to LGBT people: Italian media
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A few unnamed bishops suggested Pope Francis, as an Argentine, might have not realised the Italian term he used was offensive.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis used a highly derogatory term towards the LGBT community as he reiterated in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops that gay people should not be allowed to become priests, the Italian media reported on May 27.
La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, Italy’s largest circulation dailies, both quoted the pontiff as saying seminaries, or priesthood colleges, are already too full of “frociaggine”, a vulgar Italian term roughly translating as “faggotness”.
The Vatican did not respond to a request for comment.
La Repubblica attributed its story to several unspecified sources, while Corriere said it was backed up by a few unnamed bishops who suggested the Pope, as an Argentine, might have not realised that the Italian term he used was offensive.
Political gossip website Dagospia was the first to report on the alleged incident, said to have happened on May 20, when the Italian Bishops’ Conference opened a four-day assembly with a non-public meeting with the pontiff.
The Pope, who is 87, has so far been credited with leading the Roman Catholic Church into taking a more welcoming approach towards the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.
In 2013, at the start of his papacy, he famously said, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”, while in 2023 he allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, triggering substantial conservative backlash.
Nevertheless, he delivered a similar message on gay seminarians – minus the reported swear word – when he met Italian bishops in 2018, telling them to carefully vet priesthood applicants and reject any suspected homosexuals.
In a 2005 document, released under Pope Francis’ late predecessor Benedict XVI, the Vatican said the Church could admit into the priesthood those who had clearly overcome homosexual tendencies for at least three years.
The document said practising homosexuals and those with “deep-seated” gay tendencies and those who “support the so-called gay culture” should be barred. REUTERS
