Pope Francis makes use of homophobic slur in closed-doors assembly, Italian media report | EUROtoday

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Pope Francis is reported to have used a deeply offensive slur for same-sex people throughout a closed-door dialogue with bishops.

The assembly befell at an Italian bishops’ convention, the place one of many subjects being mentioned was whether or not to permit celibate homosexual males to bear coaching for priesthood at Catholic seminaries.

The 87-year-old pontiff is alleged to have spoken in opposition to the thought, saying that whereas it was necessary to embrace everybody, it might danger the queer individual main a double life.

He then reportedly mentioned there was already an excessive amount of frociaggine in some seminaries, an offensive Italian slur that roughly interprets to “f*****ness” or buggery. The closed-door assembly befell in Rome final week, however was first reported on Monday by Italian tabloid information web site Dasgopia.

It has since been reported by different shops, together with authoritative Italian dailies The Republic and Corriere della Sera and the information company Adnkronos, which quoted their very own unnamed sources amongst bishops current on the assembly.

The Vatican has not but commented on the stories, and didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from The Independent.

One individual aware of the incident advised Francis meant it as a “joke”, saying these round him had been stunned and perplexed by the alleged remarks. Corriere della Sera quoted sources saying that these current felt the Pope, whose first language is Spanish, didn’t realise how offensive the phrase was.

According to Italian media, throughout a gathering in November the bishops had determined that homosexual males may very well be included in seminaries in the event that they practised celibacy.

But the transfer was in the end stopped by Pope Francis, who has been extensively praised all through his time within the Vatican for taking an inclusive tone in the direction of the queer group.

Earlier in December, the Vatican launched a doc wherein Francis formally accredited permitting clergymen to bless same-sex {couples}, stipulating that folks in search of God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be topic to “an exhaustive moral analysis” to obtain it.

The doc elaborated on a letter Francis despatched to 2 conservative cardinals that was printed in October. In that preliminary response, Francis advised such blessings may very well be provided beneath some circumstances in the event that they didn’t confuse the ritual with the sacrament of marriage.

In January 2023, Francis assailed the legal guidelines on the books in lots of nations that criminalise homosexuality and known as for his or her elimination. “Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” Francis mentioned throughout an interview with the Associated Press.

Another reversal got here in late 2023, when the Vatican made public a press release saying it was permissible, beneath sure circumstances, for transgender folks to be baptised as Catholics and function godparents.

The doc was signed by Francis and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who heads the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

If it didn’t trigger scandal or “disorientation” amongst different Catholics, a transgender individual “may receive baptism under the same conditions as other faithful,” the doc mentioned.

Similarly, the doc mentioned trans adults – even when they’d undergone gender-transition surgical procedure – might function godfathers or godmothers beneath sure situations.

The new pronouncement reversed absolutely the bans on trans folks serving as godparents issued by the Vatican doctrine workplace in 2015.