VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis never meant to use homophobic language and apologises to anyone offended by it, the Vatican said Tuesday.
It is extremely rare for a pope to issue a public apology.
“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,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in an emailed statement.
Italian media had reported on Monday that Francis used the Italian term “frociaggine”, roughly translating as “faggotness” or “faggotry”. He was explaining to Italian Bishops that he remained opposed to admitting gay people into the priesthood.
Italian political gossip website Dagospia was the first to report on the alleged incident, said to have happened on May 20.
One daily, Corriere della Sera, said some bishops felt the pope, as an Argentine, might have not realised that the Italian term he used was offensive. The Pope’s remark was greeted with incredulous laughter by the bishops attending the meeting, it added.
The Pope’s reported comments caused shock and consternation, even among his supporters.
Vito Mancuso, an Italian theologian and former priest, told daily La Stampa that Francis’ language was “despicable and surprising because it blatantly jars” with his previous messages on LGBT issues.
Others interpreted the phrase as also meaning there is a “gay climate” in the seminaries.
Noting that Francis was “aware” of the various articles, Bruni reiterated that the pope remained committed to a welcoming Church for all. A Church where “nobody is useless, nobody is superfluous, (where) there is room for everyone”.
Francis, 87, has been credited with making several overtures towards the LGBT community during his 11-year papacy.
In 2013, at the start of his papacy, he famously said: “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?” Last year he allowed priests to bless members of same-sex couples, triggering a substantial conservative backlash.
Back in 2018, Francis admitted making “grave mistakes” in the handling of a sexual abuse crisis in Chile. He had initially dismissed as slander accusations against a bishop suspected of protecting a predator priest.
“I apologise to all those I have offended and I hope to be able to do it personally in the coming weeks, in the meetings I will have (with victims),” he wrote in a letter to Chilean bishops.
Nevertheless, he delivered a similar message on gay seminarians – minus the reported swear word – when he met Italian bishops in 2018. They must carefully vet priesthood applicants and reject any suspected homosexuals, he said.
A 2005 Vatican document says the Church could admit those who had clearly overcome homosexual tendencies for at least three years into the priesthood..
Practicing homosexuals, those with “deep-seated” gay tendencies and those who “support the so-called gay culture” should be barred, it said.
(REUTERS)
