Pope Francis has apologized after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gays to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests.Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement Tuesday acknowledging the media storm that erupted about Francis’ comments. They were delivered behind closed doors to Italian bishops on May 20.
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis apologized Tuesday after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gays to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests.
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. “The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who were offended by the use of a term that was reported by others,” Bruni said.
Francis strongly reaffirmed that position in his May 20 meeting with the Italian bishops, joking that “there is already an air of faggotness” in seminaries, the Italian media reported, after initial reporting from gossip site Dagospia.
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