Pope Francis allegedly told Italian bishops to not permit gay men to train for the priesthood, with two Italian newspapers claiming that the 87-year-old pontiff made a homophobic slur in a closed-door meeting last week.
Citing sources from inside the meeting, the Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica newspapers reported Monday that the Pope had made the comments while meeting with Italian bishops on May 20.
The newspaper articles, which were translated from Italian, claimed the Pope had said there is “frociaggine” – which translates in English to “faggotry” – in some of the seminaries.
The remarks took place in the context of proposals from the Italian bishops to amend guidelines on candidates to seminaries.
The Vatican ruled in 2005 that the church cannot allow the ordination of men who are actively gay or have “deep-seated” homosexual tendencies. In 2016, Francis upheld this ruling.
Two years later he told the Italian bishops not to accept gay candidates for the priesthood.
During his pontificate, the Pope has sought to offer a more welcoming approach to LGBTQ+ Catholics, saying “who am I to judge?” when asked about gay priests, and has also offered the possibility that priests could offer informal blessings for same-sex couples.
The Corriere della Sera newspaper stated that the Argentine pope, who speaks Italian as a second language, may not have been aware of how offensive his language was, adding that the remark was greeted with incredulous laughter by the bishops.
A source close to the Pope told CNN that it could also be understood as there is a “gay climate” in the seminaries.
There is no official transcript of the comments due to the nature of the closed-door meeting.
CNN has reached out to the Vatican to request comment on whether the Pope used the term. They have not yet responded.
