Pope Francis has apologized for any offense caused after he was widely quoted for using homophobic language at a rally last week.
The pope, 87, had no intention of using homophobic language, the Vatican said on Tuesday after Italian media quoted him as saying there was “an atmosphere of f*****ry” in the church.
“The Pope never intended to offend himself or express himself in homophobic terms, and he apologizes to those who feel offended by the use of a term reported by others,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement. a statement by email.
Italian media had quoted anonymous Italian bishops on Monday as reporting that Francis jokingly used the term “f*****ry” 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 as priests.
Some suggested the comments were an honest translation error for the Argentina-born pope, for whom Italian is a second language, and that he “didn't know” how offensive the word was.
Pope Francis is pictured meeting with the Italian Bishops' Conference in the Vatican
The comments were said to have been made during a closed-door meeting ahead of the conference. Pictured: the opening session of the 79th General Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference
Pope Francis attends a mass in St. Peter's Square on May 26 to mark the first World Children's Day
Italian political gossip website Dagospia was the first to report the alleged incident, which is said to have occurred on May 20, when the pope met with Italian bishops behind closed doors.
Bruni said Francis was “aware” of the reports.
The Vatican spokesman reiterated that the Pope remains committed to a welcoming Church for all, where “no one is useless, no one is superfluous, (where) there is room for everyone.”
Bishops at the meeting last Monday were reportedly surprised by the language the pope used to make the statement: the derogatory word “frociaggine,” which roughly translates to “f*****ry.”
The Italian news agency Adnkronos reported, citing sources, that the Pope said in the speech: 'Look: there is already an atmosphere of nonsense that is not good.
'There is a culture of homosexuality today regarding those who have a homosexual orientation [who] are better off if they are not accepted [into the seminary].
'For a boy who has the tendency not to fall, it is very difficult [into sin] because they come [to the seminary] thinking that the life of the priest can sustain them, but then they fall in the work of the ministry.”
The comment was met with “incredulous laughter,” the bishops told the newspaper Corriere della Serabut for some it meant a step back after a long period of time attempts to reform the church's position LGBTQ+ rights.
Francis is credited with making substantial overtures toward the LGBT community during his 11-year papacy, but his reported comments caused shock and consternation even among his supporters.
In 2013, at the beginning of his pontificate, he famously said: “If someone is homosexual, seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”
And last year he described laws criminalizing homosexuality as a “sin” and an “injustice” and allowed Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples, marking a major step forward for LGBT rights in the church.
However, the pope delivered a similar message about gay seminarians — minus the reported invective — when he met with Italian bishops in 2018, telling them to carefully vet priesthood applicants and reject anyone suspected of being homosexual.
Political gossip website Dagospia was the first to report on the alleged incident, which is said to have occurred on May 20, when the Italian Bishops' Conference opened a four-day meeting with a non-public meeting with the pope.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Francis's native language is Spanish, and although he speaks fluent Italian, he has made a number of language mistakes in the past.
He has previously said that if a boy is insecure about his sexuality and facing mental health issues, he may need 'psychiatric' support.
It was widely believed that he meant “psychological” help instead, words he has also confused on other occasions.
The 87-year-old Argentine pope often speaks informally, makes jokes in street language and even swears in private.
Francesco Lepore, a former priest who is now a gay rights activist, said he was “stunned” by the comments allegedly made by Francis, who is also known by his birth name Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
“Despite the fact that we are now used to Bergoglio's kind of direct language, talking about 'f*****ry' in the seminaries seems more like a bar and a tavern than a pope,” he told la Repubblica.
'This expression would never have appeared on the lips of Paul VI, John Paul II or Benedict XVI, who also took devastating positions on homosexuality.
He added: “The Pope is right when he says that the number of homosexual seminarians and clergy is very high. But the simplicity of the language has nothing to do with vulgarity.'
The Pope was photographed today (right) at a World Children's Day event in Rome
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Francis' first language is Spanish, and although he is fluent in Italian, he has made a number of language mistakes in the past
According to Corriere, reports of the pope's comments at the meeting come after the bishops approved a document regulating access to Italian seminaries.
The document, which has not yet been published pending review by the Holy See, reportedly sought to create some wiggle room in the Vatican's absolute ban on homosexual priests.
The Vatican ban was articulated in a 2005 document from the Congregation for Catholic Education, issued by his predecessor Benedict XVI, and later reiterated in a subsequent document in 2016.
It says the church cannot admit to seminaries or ordain men who “practice homosexuality, exhibit deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support so-called gay culture.”
The newspaper reported that members had “approved by majority vote an amendment recognizing the distinction between simple homosexual orientation and 'deep-seated inclinations.'
This suggests that this “essentially means that a homosexual can be admitted to the seminary if, like the heterosexual, he guarantees that he knows how to observe the discipline of celibacy.”
However, it reportedly implies “that it is more difficult for homosexuals because they will live in an all-male community for years.”
Francis' latest comments appear to indicate he is taking a more “radical” position on the issue, by preventing gay men from becoming members in the first place.
According to reports, the Holy See has not approved the document and the issue is still under discussion.