Pope says gay men should be barred from seminary, accused of using derogatory word
Pope Francis reportedly told a group of bishops that homosexual men should not be allowed to enter seminary to train for the priesthood and is accused of using a vulgar Italian phrase to describe the queer community in his remarks.
Francis endorsed the ban during a 90-minute, closed-door meeting with over 200 members of the Italian bishops' conference on May 20 at Vatican City, according to reports. The restriction is based on a 2005 document crafted under the administration of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.
The Jesuit publication America reported the news on Monday, citing Italian media and an "informed source, who did not want to be identified."
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La Repubblica quoted Francis as saying that "it is necessary to put down markers, and prevent the risk that the gay person who chooses the priesthood could later end up living a double-life, continuing to practice homosexuality, while at the same time suffering from this dissimulation."
Although there is no official transcript of the speech, Francis reportedly used the Italian word "frociaggine," a derogatory term for "queerness" that loosely translates in English to "faggot."
He was quoted as saying, "There is too much 'frociaggine' in seminaries." However, some believe Francis, whose native language is Spanish, may have mistakenly used the term. The Catholic News Service confirmed with unnamed Italian bishops that Francis used the term.
The Italian news outlet Corriere reported that the pope "sometimes stumbles over somewhat creative Italian without being aware of the nuances," according to CNS.
In 2013, shortly after being made pope, Francis garnered international headlines when he appeared to endorse the idea that someone could be openly homosexual and a devout Christian.
In an interview he gave at the time following the Catholic event known as World Youth Day, a journalist asked Pope Francis if there was a gay lobby at the Vatican.
Francis responded, "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" His comment was hailed by LGBT organizations and many news media outlets as a sign that the Catholic Church was evolving on LGBT issues.
However, many at the time neglected to note that in the same interview, Francis declared that it was important to "distinguish between a person who is gay and someone who makes a gay lobby," adding that "a gay lobby isn't good."
Last year, as part of an interview with the Argentine newspaper La Nacion to celebrate 10 years since he became head of the Roman Catholic Church, Francis denounced "gender ideology," which is often defined as a set of views that considers gender a social construct and not based on biological sex.
"I always distinguish between what pastoral care is for people who have a different sexual orientation and what gender ideology is," he said at the time. "They are two different things. Gender ideology, at this time, is one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations."
In December, with Francis' approval, the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a document allowing priests to provide blessings to same-sex couples. The document drew criticism, and the Vatican clarified that it would enable priests to "bless couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church's perennial teaching on marriage."
