VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis used a highly derogatory term towards the LGBT community when he reiterated during a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops that gays should not become priests, Italian media reported on Monday.
La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, Italy’s largest circulation, both quoted the pope saying that seminaries or priesthood colleges are already too full of “frociaggine,” a vulgar Italian term that roughly translates as “faggot.”
The Vatican did not respond to a request for comment.
La Repubblica attributed its story to several unspecified sources, while Corriere said it was supported by a few unnamed bishops, who suggested that the Pope, as an Argentinian, may not have realized that the Italian term he used was offensive.
Political gossip website Dagospia was the first to report on the alleged incident, which is said to have occurred on May 20, when the Italian Bishops’ Conference opened a four-day meeting with a non-public meeting with the pope.
Francis, who is 87, is so far credited with leading the Roman Catholic Church toward a more welcoming approach to the LGBT community.
In 2013, at the beginning of his papacy, he famously said: “If someone is homosexual and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”, while last year he allowed priests to join couples of the same to bless the generation. , which provoked a significant conservative backlash.
Nevertheless, he delivered a similar message to gay seminarians — minus the reported invective — when he met with Italian bishops in 2018, telling them to carefully vet priesthood applicants and reject suspected homosexuals.
In a 2005 document released under Francis’ late predecessor Benedict XVI, the Vatican said the Church could admit to the priesthood those who had clearly overcome homosexual tendencies for at least three years.
The document states that practicing homosexuals and people with “deep-rooted” homosexual tendencies and those who “support so-called gay culture” should be excluded.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
