Pope Francis has apologized after allegedly shocking Catholic Bishops during a closed-door meeting when he said that gay men should not be admitted to seminaries because there was too much "f*ggotness" going on.
According to the Associated Press, Francis used the term "frociaggine," a derogatory word that roughly translates to "f*ggotness" in Italian, when talking about a policy banning gay men from seminaries.
The comments reportedly came during a meeting at the Episcopal conference at the Vatican where the Pope spoke about the desired policy for colleges that train individuals for the priesthood, per the Daily Mail.
The Italian publication, Adnkronos, quoted an unnamed source who said the direct quote from Italian translated to, “Look, there is already an air of f*ggotness going around that isn’t good. There is a culture today of homosexuality, because of which those with a homosexual orientation are better off not being welcomed [into the seminary]."
The remarks were met with laughter from the bishops in the room, sources told the Corriere della Sera. Some suggested that it was a mistake from on the Pope's part, as Italian is his second language, and that he did not know the connotation behind the word. The comments and move towards having a policy that would bar gay men from being in church seminaries comes to a surprise to some who have seen Pope Francis as being softer on LGBTQ issues.
When Francis was asked about homosexuality in general in 2013, Francis responded, "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" However, in 2018, the Pope made a similar statement about seminary policies, wanting those who are admitted to undergo a vetting process and for the Catholic Church to reject those applicants who are suspected to be gay.
