- Bishops told Italian media that the comments were met with “incredulous laughter.”
Pope Francis has reportedly shocked bishops in Italy by using an offensive slur when he said gay men should not be admitted to church seminaries because there is already “too much” homosexual sexual activity.
The Pope told a bishops’ conference in the Vatican that gay men should not be admitted to colleges to train for the priesthood, Italian media reported.
Bishops at the meeting were reportedly surprised by the language he used to make this statement: the derogatory word “frociaggine,” which roughly translates to “f*****ry.”
The comment was met with “incredulous laughter,” the bishops told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. They suggested it was an honest mistake by the pope, for whom Italian is a second language, and that he did not know how offensive the word was.
The alleged comments, which appear to run counter to recent moves to change seminary admissions rules, have come as a surprise to some in the church as Francis is known for taking a more liberal stance than his predecessors on LGBT issues rights.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Francis’ first language is Spanish, and although he is fluent in Italian, he has made a number of language mistakes in the past
When asked in 2013 about his views on homosexuality, he famously said, “If someone is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
Last year he described laws criminalizing homosexuality as a “sin” and an “injustice” and allowed Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples, marking a major step forward for LGBT rights in the church.
The reports of the closed-door meeting on May 20 come after the bishops approved a document regulating access to Italian seminaries, Corriere said.
The newspaper reported that members had “approved by majority vote an amendment recognizing the distinction between simple homosexual orientation and ‘deep-seated inclinations.’
This suggests that this “essentially means that a homosexual can be admitted to the seminary if, like the heterosexual, he guarantees that he knows how to observe the discipline of celibacy.”
However, it reportedly implies “that it is more difficult for homosexuals because they will live in an all-male community for years.”
Francis’ latest comments suggest he is taking a “more radical” position on the issue, by preventing gay men from joining in the first place.
According to reports, the Holy See has not approved the document and the issue is still under discussion.
The comments were said to have been made during a closed-door meeting ahead of the conference. Pictured: the opening session of the 79th General Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference
The 2005 Vatican document, which was endorsed by Francis in 2016, states that the Church “cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, exhibit deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture’.”
There is as yet no official record of the Pope’s latest comments on the matter.
Francis was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and his first language is Spanish, and although he speaks fluent Italian, he has made a number of language mistakes in the past.
He has previously said that if a boy is insecure about his sexuality and facing mental health issues, he may need ‘psychiatric’ support.
It was widely believed that he meant “psychological” help instead, words he has also confused on other occasions.