Pope Francis issues an apology for using “homophobic terms”

Pope Francis said sorry for using a bad word to talk about gay men while discussing the Catholic Church‘s rule against gay priests.

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said that they know there has been a lot of talk in the media about what Pope Francis said to Italian bishops on May 20.

Italian bishops were quoted by the media as saying that Pope Francis used the word “faggotness” as a joke during a conversation in Italian. He used the word to say the Vatican still doesn’t allow gay men to become priests.

Bruni said that Francis knew about the reports and remembered that the pope from Argentina has always said that there is space for everyone in the Catholic Church, especially LGBTQ2S+ Catholics.

“The pope didn’t mean to hurt anyone or say anything against gay people, and he’s sorry if anyone was upset by what he said,” Bruni explained.

Francis was speaking to a group of Italian bishops who had just agreed on a new plan for teaching future priests in Italy. The document is not published yet because it is being reviewed by the Holy See. It is said to be trying to make some changes to the Vatican’s rule that gay priests are not allowed.

The Vatican said in 2005 and again in 2016 that the church cannot allow or ordain men who are openly gay or strongly support gay culture.

Francis reiterated his stance in a meeting with Italian bishops on May 20. He joked that there was already a presence of gay men in seminaries. The Italian media reported this, following initial reports from gossip site Dagospia.

Francis does not speak Italian very well, and he has made mistakes in the past when speaking it. The 87-year-old pope from Argentina talks in a relaxed way, jokes using casual language and sometimes uses bad words in private.

He is well-known for reaching out to LGBTQ2S+ Catholics. In 2013, he made a famous comment saying “Who am I to judge” about a priest who was said to have had a gay lover in the past.