Pope Francis , often deemed too liberal by more conservative elements of the clergy, is under fire for using a cuss word to describe homosexual men. According to a report in The Guardian, several Italian media outlets have reported that the pontiff used the term “frociaggine”, a vulgar Italian word that roughly translates to “faggotness”, while reiterating his objection to admitting gay men to Catholic seminaries. The remark was made when the pope said that while it was important to embrace everyone, there was already too much “frociaggine” in some seminaries.
The story was first reported by Dagospia, a gossip website before being covered by dailies like La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera. The media reports claimed – while quoting unnamed bishops – that the pontiff meant the derogatory terms as a “joke” and left those who heard it “surprised” and “perplexed”. One bishop is quoted saying that the pope might not have been familiar with the offensive nature of the term.
Two newspapers, La Repubblica and Corriere, stated that it was decided that homosexual men should be admitted to seminaries, but the move was vetoed by the pope. The word “frociaggine” stems from the word “frocio” that refers to the English term faggot. The term faggot is often used in the Anglosphere to refer to a gay person in a derogatory manner though its shorter fag is also used for cigarettes.
Historically, while the term fag/faggot has been used to refer to men percei.
