On Tuesday (11 June), Italian media reported that Pope Francis repeated a derogatory term for members of the LGBTQ community during a closed-door meeting.
He had previously used the term while addressing the issue of young men with a homosexual tendency entering the seminary.
The allegations have surfaced a month after he publicly apologised for doing likewise while speaking to Italian bishops.
According to Italian state media outlet ANSA via Reuters, Pope Francis said the term “frociaggine”, a derogatory term for gay people in the country.
He used the term during a closed-door meeting with Roman priests, stating that “there is an air of fa****ry in the Vatican.”
The pope, 87, then said it would be better for young men with a “homosexual tendency” to not be allowed to enter the seminary, CNN reports.
Responding to the report, the Vatican’s press office referred to a statement it issued regarding the meeting with the priests on 11 June.
In the statement, the pope brought up the need to welcome gay people into the Church. He had also mentioned the necessity for caution about them becoming seminarians.
An earlier incident involving the pope using the same term took place back in May, according to Reuters.
Italian website Dagospia was the first to report the incident, stating that it occurred on 20 May when he met Italian bishops in another closed-door meeting.
Source: Con El Papa on Facebook
He mentioned the term while telling them about his opposition towards admitting gay people into the priesthood.
Corriere della Sera, another Italian media outlet, subsequently reported that unnamed bishops in the room had suggested that the pope, an Argentinian, might not have realised the offensive nature of the Italian term he used, according to Reuters.
Source: Ashwin Vaswani on Unsplash
Following the reports, the pope issued a public apology via the Vatican, with spokesman Matteo Bruni stating:
“The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he apologises to those who felt offended by the use of a term reported by others”.
He then reiterated the pope’s commitment to a welcoming Church for all, adding that “nobody is useless, nobody is superfluous, there is room for everyone”.
Also read: Pope Francis confirmed to visit S’pore, will likely celebrate mass on 12 Sept
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Featured image adapted from CNN.
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