The Pope has apologised after allegedly using a homophobic slur towards the gay community in a meeting with bishops.
According to Italian media reports, the pontiff said gay men should not be allowed to train as priests before using a highly derogatory word.
The 87-year-old allegedly told bishops in Italian that there was already too much frociaggine in the Church, which translates as f*******, according to Italian outlets.
‘The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who were offended by the use of a term that was reported by others,’ Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Tuesday.
It comes after the leader of the Catholic Church was asked at the Italian Bishops’ Conference in Rome if gay men should be allowed to train as priests as long as they remained celibate.
He reportedly said they should not before using the slur, adding that there was a risk of a gay person leading a double life.
While the Pope’s alleged homophobic remarks were made behind closed doors, they soon leaked to the media, with Italian website Dagospia reporting on it first, followed by dailies La Repubblica and Corriere della Sella and the news agency Adnkronos.
The incident reportedly happened on May 20 during a private meeting.
The story was first reported by the political gossip website Dagospia. National newspaper La Repubblica cited unspecified sources, while Corriere based its story on unnamed bishops who said the remark was a ‘joke’.
The unnamed bishops suggested the pontiff, who is from Argentina, may not have realised the Italian term is offensive, Sky News reports.
The latest incident could cast a shadow over Pope Francis’ legacy, which some have seen as more inclusive since he was elected in the role in 2013.
Since then, he has adopted a more inclusive tone towards the LGBT+ community – at least in public.
This was not welcomed by some cardinals, the Guardian reports.
He told publicly ‘who am I to judge?’ when asked about gay people at the start of his papacy.
In December, he approved priests to bless unmarried and same-sex couples in Catholic churches, which was seen as a huge change for the 2,000-year-old institution.
Pope Francis told a trans person that ‘even if we are sinners, he [God] draws near to help us’ during a meeting last July, according to BBC News.
He also said transgender people can be baptised in the church as long as doing so does not cause a ‘public scandal’ or ‘confusion.’
However, the Pope has reportedly previously said that gay people needed to be kicked out of seminaries whether they acted on their sexual tendencies or not, the BBC reports.
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