Pope Francis has apologized following reports that he used derogatory language towards gay men in a private Vatican meeting.
Francis was attending the Italian bishops conference, which has recently approved a new document outlining training for Italian seminarians. The document, which hasn’t been published pending review by the Holy See, reportedly sought to pave a degreeo of leeway in the Vatican’s absolute ban on gay priests.
The Vatican ban was articulated in a 2005 document from the Congregation for Catholic Education, and later repeated in a subsequent document in 2016, which said the church cannot admit to seminaries or ordain men who “practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called gay culture.”
It was in this context that the pope reportedly said gay men should not be allowed to train for the priesthood, adding there was already an air of frociaggine, which translates as a highly offensive slur.
He had used the term in reaffirming an interdiction on behalf of the Vatican on allowing gay men to enter seminaries and be ordained priests.
This meeting was in private, but has been widely reported.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement saying that the Pope did not mean to offend anyone and apologized.
