Pope to Italian RCC bishops: Too many "faggots" in our seminaries

The Pope at the Italian bishops' conference. Photo: roma.corriere.it

On May 20, 2024, during a closed meeting with Italian bishops gathered in Rome for the General Assembly, Pope Francis stated that "there are too many faggots in our seminaries," as reported by Corriere della Sera.

Responding to a question from those present about whether and to what extent homosexual candidates could be accepted into seminaries, the Pope said that "there is already too much frociaggine (a slang term that could be translated as 'pederasts', 'faggotry') in seminaries."

Some bishops attempted to justify the Pope's statement by saying that "Italian is not his native tongue," and "it was clear that Francis was not aware of how heavy and offensive this word is in our language."

Journalists reported that "in the Vatican, it is said that the Pope also allowed himself a few strong expressions" in private.

They noted that "there is dissatisfaction" among supporters of the LGBT community, "because the issue of admitting homosexuals to seminaries should be thoroughly discussed in one of the ten working groups related to the next Synod: it is an open question, as is the question of female deacons."

"In both cases, Francis's 'no' seemed to close the discussion even before it began," writes Corriere della Sera.

Earlier, the Independent wrote that, according to the pontiff, "moral perfection" is not required to receive blessings from gay people.

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