Italian media says Pope used homophobic slur in meeting with bishops
Al Jazeera
Pope Francis allegedly used the derogatory term when discussing whether gay men should be allowed to join the priesthood.
Pope Francis used a homophobic slur during a meeting with Italian bishops, as he reiterated that gay men should not be allowed to become priests, according to Italian media.
The La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera newspapers reported on Monday that the 87-year-old Pope made the derogatory remark in a private meeting a week ago when he was asked whether gay men should be allowed to train for the priesthood provided they remained celibate.
Pope Francis said they should not and joked that there were “already too many “‘frociaggine'” in some seminaries. In English, the term roughly translates to f****.
Corriere della Sera reported that some of those present felt that the Pope, whose first language is Spanish, did not realise how offensive the word was.
The political gossip website Dagospia was the first to report on the alleged incident, said to have happened on May 20, when the Italian Bishops Conference opened its four-day assembly.
