After asking bishops not to welcome homosexual people during religious seminars, Pope Francis apologized this Tuesday, May 28, according to the Vatican.
Pope Francis apologized this Tuesday, May 28 after these homophobic comments, declares the Vatican. “The Pope never intended to offend or express himself with homophobic remarks and apologizes to those who felt offended by the use of a word”according to this press release.
The pope is said to have invited bishops, during the assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) a week ago, not to welcome openly homosexual people into religious seminaries. He would then have said that there were too many “frociaggine”, a word from the dialect of Rome which is considered in Italian to be vulgar and insulting towards homosexuals. This could be close to the word “faggot” according to a translation that comes closest to it.
“According to the bishops contacted” by the Corriere della Sera, “it is obvious that the sovereign pontiff was not aware of how insulting his remarks were in Italian”.
“More than embarrassment, his remarks were greeted with some incredulous laughter because of the gaffe” of the Pope, whose mother tongue is not Italian, “was obvious”continues the newspaper.
Daily life La Repubblica gives the same information, citing several corroborating sources. The newspaper recalls that Pope Francis has always campaigned for a Church welcoming to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, but he insisted during this meeting on the ban on seminars for openly homosexual people.
These controversial remarks were picked up by the media around the world, sparking disappointment and indignation among associations defending LGBTQ rights, which forced the Vatican to react. The Holy See press release does not confirm that the Argentine pope used this term but simply refers to press articles citing it. The Vatican also takes care to recall that Jorge Bergoglio has assured on numerous occasions that, “in the Church, there is room for everyone, for everyone! No one is useless, no one is superfluous, there is room for all”.
