Pope says sorry for use of homophobic slur in private meeting

London: The Pope has issued an apology after Italian media outlets reported he told a private meeting with bishops there was “too much faggotry” among those training for the Catholic priesthood, and they should be kept out.

Francis was said to have made the remark in a closed-door meeting with bishops when describing priesthood colleges as already too full of frociaggine, which translates as “faggotry”, when the subject of admitting gay men to seminaries was raised by participants.

Pope Francis’ apology for using a vulgar term to refer to gay men was the latest comment to make headlines about the Catholic Church’s teachings on homosexuality. Credit: AP

“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, reported by others,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement.

“As he stated on several occasions, ‘In the Church there is room for everyone, for everyone! Nobody is useless, nobody is superfluous, there is room for everyone. Just as we are, all of us’.”

The 87-year-old pontiff was said to have used an offensive term during a meeting with more than 250 bishops last week, while expressing his opposition to homosexual men joining training colleges for priests, even if they committed to celibacy.

The report, published in Italian blog Dagospia, and confirmed by major newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, have made headlines around the world and drew dismay from both LGTBQ groups and Catholics.

His comment was reportedly met with incredulity by the audience. However, it was claimed that it was clear Francis, who is Argentinian and was speaking in Italian, was unaware of how offensive the word was in Italian.

The Vatican statement did not confirm that he used the word but referenced newspaper articles. Francis has been claimed to often speak informally, jokes using slang and “off-colour, occasionally vulgar language”.

The question from bishops about homosexual men entering seminaries followed debate on the subject at a meeting of bishops in November in Assisi, where it was agreed to change a previous regulation issued in 2005, which banned men from entering seminaries if they practised homosexuality, had “deeply rooted” homosexual tendencies or supported “gay culture”.

Bishops have tried to develop a policy since rules were deemed subjective and hard to apply.

Encouraged by Francis’s noted comments about homosexual people when he said “Who I am to judge?” in response to a question about gay people in 2013, bishops pushed to loosen the regulations, allowing people with homosexual tendencies to enter seminaries as long as they followed the rule of celibacy.

Despite objections from conservative bishops, a majority at the Assisi meeting approved the new rule, which was sent to the Vatican where it is waiting for final approval.

Francis has previously stressed that the Catholic Church welcomed homosexual people but said they should not be allowed to train for the priesthood due to the risk they would continue to practise homosexuality and be forced to lead a double life after entering the church.

The church teaches that homosexual acts are “disordered” and Francis has opposed gay marriage but has approved of gay civil unions.

In the 2019 book, In the Closet of the Vatican, French author Frederic Martel claimed that 60 to 70 per cent of trainee priests in Italian seminaries were gay. He suggested they were conflicted over their homosexuality due to conservative upbringings and hoped to avoid the issue by starting a celibate life.

In January, Francis said he felt lonely and isolated after his decision to allow the blessing of gay couples provoked protest from conservative bishops who said they will boycott the ruling.

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