Pope Francis accused of using anti-gay slur again
Pope Francis reportedly used an anti-gay slur again. (Getty)
Pope Francis has been accused of using an anti-gay slur again, just weeks after the Vatican apologised for his use of the term.
On Tuesday (11 June), during a close-door meeting with Roman priests, the Pope allegedly repeated the term “frociaggine”.
The term “frociaggine” is an f-pejorative in the Italian language, which roughly translates to the derogatory term, “f****t”.
According to ANSA new agency, as reported by Sky, the Pope said there is an air of “frociaggine” in the Vatican, before suggesting it would be best that young men who are homosexual are not allowed to enter the seminary.
Responding to the latest use of the term, the Vatican highlighted that the meeting also saw the Pope reiterate the need to welcome gay people into the Church, before he emphasised the need for caution should they become priests.
Pope’s use of the term comes weeks after an apology was issued
At the end of last month, Pope Francis hit headlines for using the word “frociaggine” to refer to gay men during a meeting with bishops about allowing gay men to become priests.
Following his alleged comments coming to light, the Vatican released an apology, insisting that the Pope is a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community.
“As he stated on several occasions: ‘In the Church, there is room for everyone. Nobody is useless, nobody is superfluous, there is room for everyone. Just as we are, all of us’,” a spokesperson said.
“The Pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he apologises to those who felt offended by the use of a term reported by others.”
The Pope has a conflicted history of comments about the LGBTQ+ community, from saying “who am I to judge them”, in a dialogue about gay priests, to supporting trans people as godparents, blessing same-sex unions and most recently using the derogatory word “frociaggine”.
