NEW DELHI:
Pope Francis
reportedly used a derogatory term for the
LGBT
community during a closed-door meeting with
Italian bishops
, stating that
gay people
should not be allowed to become priests. Italy’s La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera quoted the pope as saying
seminaries
are already too full of “frociaggine,” a vulgar term roughly translating to “faggotness.”
However, the Vatican has not commented on the reports.
La Repubblica cited several unspecified sources, while Corriere mentioned a few unnamed bishops who suggested the pope, being Argentine, might not have realized the term’s offensiveness.
Italian website Dagospia was the first to report on an alleged incident involving Pope Francis on May 20, during the Italian Bishops Conference’s four-day assembly, which began with a private meeting with the pontiff.
Pope Francis, 87, has been credited with leading the Roman Catholic Church towards a more welcoming approach to the LGBT community. In 2013, at the start of his papacy, he famously stated, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?” Last year, he allowed priests to bless members of same-sex couples, triggering significant conservative backlash.
Nevertheless, he delivered a similar message on gay seminarians – minus the reported swear word – when he met Italian bishops in 2018, telling them to carefully vet priesthood applicants and reject any suspected homosexuals.
In a 2005 document, released under Francis’s late predecessor Benedict XVI, the Vatican said the Church could admit into the priesthood those who had clearly overcome homosexual tendencies for at least three years.
The document said practicing homosexuals and those with “deep-seated” gay tendencies and those who “support the so-called gay culture” should be barred.
(With agency inputs)
