Pope Apologises For Using Anti-Gay Slur

Pope Francis has apologised for using a homophobic term in a meeting in which he reportedly told bishops to reject gay candidates for the priesthood.

The incident was reported by the Italian media, which claimed that Francis had referred to some seminaries having too much “frociaggine,” which equates to “f****tness” or “f****try” in English.

Despite a more progressive stance towards LGBTIQ+ people than his predecessors, the Pope has previously stated that gay men should not be allowed to become priests.

Some who attended the meeting suggested that the Pope, who is Argentinian, may not have fully understood that the Italian word is offensive.

In response to the media reports, the Vatican said in a statement: “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, as reported by others.”

It asserted that: “As he has said on several occasions, ‘in the Church there is room for everyone, everyone! No one is useless, no one is superfluous, there is room for everyone. Just as we are, everyone.’”

American LGBTQ+ Catholic group, New Ways Ministry, welcomed the apology and said the use of the slur was probably “a careless colloquialism.”

It called for the Pope, however, to clarify what he meant by banning gay men from the priesthood.

“Without a clarification, his words will be interpreted as a blanket ban on accepting any gay man to a seminary,” commented Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director of New Ways Ministry.

“We ask Pope Francis, who famously once said of gay priests, ‘Who am I to judge?’, to provide a clearer statement on his views about gay priests, so many of whom faithfully serve the people of God each day.”

DeBernardo added: “Pope Francis has not always been clear in his remarks about LGBTQ+ people. We hope this incident will encourage him to learn more about the language he uses and be more careful because misuse can be dangerously harmful.”

While the Pope has called for greater inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people in the Catholic Church, the Vatican remains opposed to same-sex marriage, views same-sex intimacy as “depraved” and “disordered”, and espouses a rigid binary view of gender.