Pope Francis 'Never intended to offend' with his offensive comments about gay priests

After the controversy of his recent remarks regarding gay priests, Pope Francis has apologized. On May 28, the Vatican released a statement which read: “The Pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who felt offended by the use of a term, as reported by others.”

The Vatican's statement continued, “As he (Pope Francis) has said on several occasions, ‘in the Church there is room for everyone, everyone! No one is useless, no one is superfluous, there is room for everyone. Just as we are, everyone.’”

This official apology came after comments made by Pope Francis came to light on May 27, when the world was shocked to hear the Catholic leader use a homophobic slur to refer to gay priests in the seminary.

Pope Francis has gained popularity with many (and hate from others) because many believe he is more liberal and progressive than his predecessors. Actions such as claiming gay marriage should be blessed and possibly expanding on the role of women in the church have earned him this reputation.

However, some began to question just how progressive the Pope really is after some alleged comments he made. Italian newspapers Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica published articles on May 27 about Pope Francis allegedly using slurs against gay people while in a closed-door Vatican meeting with Italian bishops on May 20.

According to The Guardian, the 87-year-old leader of the Catholic church was discussing with bishops in Rome the delicate question of whether gay men should be permitted to enter Catholic seminaries, where priests receive their training. 

In the Italian newspaper articles on the subject, it was alleged that the pontiff said there is too much "frogciaggine" in Catholic seminaries, which translates to "f a g g o t r y" in English.

Not only is the slur offensive but it was also claimed, according to Reuters, that Pope Francis said that gay people should not be allowed to become priests. 

The Guardian clarified that this comment came about when, during the Italian Bishops Conference, the bishop asked the Pope if gay people should be allowed into the seminary. 

Pope Francis,  said that gay men should not be allowed into the seminary as there was a good chance gay priests would be at risk of leading a double life.

The Vatican did not immediately respond to respond to the multiple media outlets that contacted them for comment on the matter. According to Reuters, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica claims to have heard about the homophobic comment via several unnamed sources. 

Whereas Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera said a handful of unnamed bishops confirmed the truthfulness of the comment. However, the unnamed bishops did tell Corriere that since Pope Francis is from Argentina, he may have used the derogatory Italian term without realizing it was offensive.

Regardless of Pope Francis' apology, understandably, the LGBTQ+ community will see this as a step back for the leader. As highlighted by The Guardian, after his 2013 election, Francis has tried to include the gay community more and even approved a ruling to permit priests to bless unmarried same-sex couples in December 2023, which was a bold move for the Catholic Church. 

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