In what may be a blemish in his supposedly pro-LGBTQIA image, Pope Francis was reported to have used a derogatory term towards the LGBTQIA community when he reiterated that gay people should not be allowed to become priests.
As reported by La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, Italy’s largest circulation dailies, the pope was quoted as saying that seminaries, or priesthood colleges, are already too full of “frociaggine“, an Italian term that roughly translates to “faggotry” or “faggotness“. Political gossip website Dagospia was the first to report on the alleged incident.
He was in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops, with some of them suggesting that the pope, an Argentine, might have not realized that the Italian term he used was offensive, according to La Repubblica.
After the news broke, the Vatican eventually offered an apology.
“The Pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who felt offended by the use of a term, as reported by others,” the Vatican was quoted as saying in a statement to CNN.
Although Pope Francis, 87, is seen as more welcoming to the LGBTQIA community, he had also been advocating for anti-LGBTQIA policies in the Vatican. In 2018, as an example, he was quoted as telling Italian bishops to carefully vet priesthood applicants and reject any suspected homosexuals. With this, the current pope backs the 2005 document released under the late Pope Benedict XVI that states that the Roman Catholic Church could only admit into the priesthood those who had overcome homosexual tendencies for at least three years; and bar “practicing homosexuals”, those with “deep-seated” gay tendencies, and those who “support the so-called gay culture”.
