‘Faggotry’: Pope Francis accused of repeating gay priests slur

At an audience in Rome with local priests, Pope Francis allegedly claimed there was an ‘atmosphere of faggotry’ at the Vatican.

Pope Francis greets people at the end of the weekly audience at St Peter's square in The Vatican. Picture: AFP.

The Pope has allegedly repeated an offensive term to describe homosexuals, weeks after he apologised for using the same slur during a private meeting.

At an audience in Rome with local priests on Tuesday, Francis allegedly claimed there was an “atmosphere of faggotry” at the Vatican as he discussed the issue of gay clerics. Last month he was quoted as saying there was “too much faggotry” among men in seminaries training to be priests.

In that meeting with Italian bishops on May 20, and again on Tuesday, he is said to have used the Italian word frociaggine, which translates as “faggotry”.

The Vatican issued a statement last month saying that the Pope “offers his apologies to those who felt offended by the use of the term”.

However, Francis was apparently prepared to use the phrase again on Tuesday, according to the Italian news agency Ansa and the Catholic website Silere Non Possum ("I Cannot Remain Silent"), which said it had a recording of his meeting with 200 young priests.

Pope Francis greets people in St Peter's square. Picture: AFP.

The Pope’s use of the term has prompted criticism from gay rights groups that had previously praised him for his outreach, after a 2013 incident in which he exclaimed “who am I to judge?” when asked about gay priests.

But a priest who works with Silere Non Possum and who said he was present at the meeting on Tuesday told The Times that, in private, the pontiff was more coarse.

“Pope Francis speaks like this, he is rough-spoken. It can be embarrassing and it could be getting more pronounced with age,” he said, declining to be named.

“The first time round I think it was the Vatican press office issuing the apology rather than him,” the priest added.

Francis is alleged to have repeated the “faggotry” slur when he was asked about arguments that he made on May 20 about keeping gay men out of seminaries.

“If a lad wants to enter a seminary and he has homosexual tendencies, stop him,” Francis said, according to Silere Non Possum.

“The dicastery [Vatican department] for the clergy has said this and I support them. Today homosexual culture has moved forward a lot and there are good lads who want the Lord but it is better not, better not.

“A monsignore who works at the Vatican once said to me: ‘Your Holiness, I want to say something, I am worried about the gay culture inside here.’ I said: ‘Yes, there is an atmosphere of faggotry. It is true, you find it in the Vatican.’ ”

It is allegedly that the pope added: “In our culture today it is a mark of honour. We must be careful to not disrespect people with homosexual tendencies but accompany them. There are many good people.

“Accompany them, help them, send them to psychologists – but please, be careful about accepting them in seminaries.”

Silere Non Possum also quoted Francis as using the word “faggot” during the meeting.

The Vatican press office, in its own account of the meeting with the priests, which took place at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome, said Francis had “spoken again about the theme of admitting people with homosexual tendencies to seminaries, repeating the need to welcome them and accompany them in the Church, and the prudent instruction of the dicastery for the clergy about their entry into seminaries.”

A 2005 Vatican rule bans men from entering seminaries if they practise homosexuality, have “deeply rooted” homosexual tendencies or support “gay culture”.

At his May 20 meeting with bishops, Francis said that gay men should not be allowed to train for the priesthood owing to the risk that they would continue to practise homosexuality and be forced to lead a double life after entering the church. He made the same argument in 2018.

The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are “disordered”. Francis, who turned 87 in December, opposes gay marriage but has approved of gay civil unions.

The Times