ROME — Pope Francis has again decried an atmosphere of “faggotry” in the Vatican, doubling down after similar controversial comments two weeks ago.
In a closed-door meeting with priests at Rome’s Salesian University this week, the pontiff lamented an “air of faggotry in the Vatican” in response to the question of whether he was worried about “the gay culture” inside Vatican walls.
Men with homosexual inclinations should be welcomed in the Church but should not be admitted into seminaries to train for the priesthood, the pope reportedly said.
This latest statement, involving the use of an offensive slur (frociaggine) for homosexuals, follows closely on a similar remark made to a meeting of bishops late last month. On that occasion, following outrage over the pope’s comments, the Holy See Press Office hastened to issue an apology on the pope’s behalf, insisting that he “never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms.”
In that May 20 meeting, the 87-year-old pope said that there was already too much “faggotry” (frociaggine) in some seminaries.
The bishops should “get all the fairies [checche] out of seminary, even those who are only semi-oriented,” the pope added.
In a curious juxtaposition, this week Pope Francis received gay-rights activist Father James Martin for an hourlong meeting in the Vatican, in which the pope reportedly said he has known “many good, holy and celibate seminarians and priests with homosexual tendencies.”
Father Martin said on X (former Twitter) that the pope had “confirmed my ministry with LGBTQ people and showed his openness and love for the LGBTQ community.”