Pope Francis Apologizes For Homophobic Slur Regarding Catholic Church’s Ban on Gay Priests

(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The Vatican has issued a rare apology for Pope Francis — after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gay men to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests.

News broke Monday in Italian media outlets that the Pope used a highly derogatory term towards the LGBTQ community as he reiterated in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops that gay people should not be allowed to become priests, Italian media reported Monday.

AP reports:

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement acknowledging the media storm that erupted about Francis’ comments, which were delivered behind closed doors to Italian bishops on May 20.

Italian media on Monday had quoted unnamed Italian bishops in reporting that Francis jokingly used the term “faggotness” while speaking in Italian during the encounter. He had used the term in reaffirming the Vatican’s ban on allowing gay men to enter seminaries and be ordained priests.

Bruni said Francis was aware of the reports and recalled that the Argentine pope, who has made outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics a hallmark of his papacy, has long insisted there was “room for everyone” in the Catholic Church.

Some media outlets have deferred to Pope Francis’s Argentinian upbringing as an explanation for his not knowing the nature of the offensive word. Pope Francis has curried some controversy in the United States recently when he came out in favor of supporting poor migrants crossing the Southern border.