Vatican. Pope Francis apologizes for using a homophobic Italian word
By using the term frociaggine, Pope Francis “never intended to offend anyone or express himself in homophobic terms” And “sends its apologies to those who felt offended”, the Vatican spokesperson announced this Tuesday, May 28, Quoted by La Repubblica.
“During a closed-door meeting held last week with the assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Bergoglio, according to various participants, advised the Italian bishops not to admit openly declared homosexuals to the seminary, while nevertheless respecting all those who renounce their sexual orientation”, recalls the Italian newspaper.
“In seminars, there is already too much pedaling”, the Argentine pope would have declared, according to an approximate translation of this very derogatory term, typical of the Roman dialect, precise The Washington Post.
“Skid”
This statement was condemned by LGBTQI associations such as “offensive and denigrating”, underlines La Stampa, who noted in an editorial on this “skid” : “So, for Bergoglio, homosexual people should not be admitted to seminaries.”
The bishops’ conference had approved a project to reform the criteria for admission to the seminary. Regarding homosexuality, “in essence, it is said that the problem is not the trend but the practice, the ‘acts’, explains it Corriere della Sera. Even a homosexual can be admitted if he shows that he has ‘a serious choice’ of chastity. This is where Francesco (…) intervened with what appears to be a ‘No’ radical.”
After the incident, bishops told the Italian newspaper “that the Pontiff’s exit had been greeted with some incredulous laughter, more than embarrassment, as Bergoglio’s blunder was so obvious: Italian is not his mother tongue, when he was a child it was mainly spoken in his family Piedmontese and it was ultimately obvious that Francis did not know how crude and offensive this word was in our language.” This is not the first time that the pope has spoken “in a slightly creative Italian”, recalls in another article the daily.
“It was Francis himself who stunned the world, a few months after his election, by declaring : ‘Who am I to judge a gay?’”, the newspaper underlines. “And he certainly did not change his mind even if his innovations (…) focused more on attitude, style (…) than on the doctrine itself.”
His spokesperson was keen to point this out after the storm that his remarks caused: “As he had the opportunity to affirm on other occasions, ‘In the Church there is room for everyone (…). All, as we are.’”
