Pope Francis allegedly used a gay slur during a meeting with bishops about allowing gay men to become priests. Despite publicly voicing his support for LGBTQ+ people in the past, the offensive comment was allegedly made in Rome last week during discussions about whether gay men who are open about their sexuality – but remain celibate – should be admitted to Catholic seminaries, where priests are trained. The inclusion of gay men is a topic the Italian bishops conference has apparently being considering for some time.
During the meeting, the Pontiff allegedly voiced his objection to the idea and said there was already too much “frociaggine” in seminaries – the Italian word roughly translates as “f****t”. The comments were first reported by Italian tabloid website Dagospia before being picked up by other publications and news agencies in the country, which cited various sources to corroborate the story. The slur comes after Francis has tried to mend the fractious relationship between the Catholic Church and the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2013, during the first few month of his papacy, Francis – also known as the Bishop of Rome – made headlines around the world when he told reporters that if “someone is gay and searches for the Lord and has good will, More recently, in January 2023, he described laws which criminalise LGBTQ+ people as an injustice, it “is not right” because “persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God”. He went on to say: “God .
