Pope Francis shocked the LGBTQ community Monday after it was reported that he used a derogatory term toward the LGBT community in a private meeting with bishops, reiterating that gays should not become priests.
According to Italy's largest daily newspapers, La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, the Pope called priesthood colleges overly rife with homosexuality, using the vulgar Italian term “frociaggine,” which roughly translates to “f*****ry.” .
The Italian news agency Adnkronos reported, citing sources, that the Pope stated: “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].”
The Vatican does not yet want to respond to the reports.
The incident is said to have occurred on May 20, during a private meeting between the pope and the Italian bishops' conference, as first reported by political gossip website Dagospia.
La Repubblica based its story on several unspecified sources, while Corriere della Sera quoted unnamed bishops as suggesting that Pope Francis, an Argentinian, may not have realized the Italian term was offensive.
Pope Francis, 87, is known for leading the Roman Catholic Church toward a more inclusive approach to the LGBT community.
In 2013, he famously said, “If someone is homosexual, seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”
Last year he allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, a move that sparked significant conservative backlash.
However, in 2018 he instructed Italian bishops to carefully vet priesthood applicants and reject suspected homosexuals.
A 2005 document from the Vatican during the papacy of Benedict supporting homosexual tendencies' must be excluded. called gay culture.”