Pope Francis apologized Tuesday after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gay people to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement acknowledging the media storm that erupted over Francis’ comments, delivered behind closed doors to Italian bishops on May 20.
On Monday, Italian media cited anonymous Italian bishops reporting that Francis jokingly used the term “faggot” while speaking in Italian during the meeting. He had used the term to reaffirm the Vatican’s ban on allowing gay men to enter seminaries and be ordained priests.
Bruni said Francis was aware of the reports and recalled that the Argentine pope, who has made outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics a hallmark of his papacy, has long insisted there is “room for everyone” in the Catholic Church.
“The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he apologizes to those who were offended by the use of a term reported by others,” he said. Bruni said.
Francis was speaking to an assembly of the Italian bishops’ conference, which recently approved a new document outlining the formation of Italian seminarians. The document, which has not been released pending review by the Holy See, reportedly sought to create some wiggle room in the Vatican’s absolute ban on gay priests.
The Vatican ban was formulated in a 2005 document from the Congregation for Catholic Education, then repeated in a subsequent document in 2016, which stated that the Church could not admit to seminaries or ordain men who “ practice homosexuality, exhibit deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support homosexuality.” the so-called gay culture. »
Francis firmly reaffirmed this position during his May 20 meeting with Italian bishops, joking that “there is already an air of queerness” in the seminaries, Italian media reported, after an initial report by the site of gossip Dagospia.
Italian is not Francis’ native language, and the Argentine pope has made linguistic gaffes in the past that have raised eyebrows. The 87-year-old Argentine pope often speaks informally, joking using slang and even swearing in private.
However, he is known for his work with LGBTQ+ Catholics, starting with his famous comment “Who am I to judge” in 2013 about a priest who allegedly had a gay lover in his past.
Par NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
