Issues dividing the Church

Pope Francis made the news some time ago when he announced that LGBTQ people should be welcomed in the Roman Catholic Church and even allowed priests to bless same-sex couples. 

It was therefore a surprise to many people, including those who admire the pope for his progressive views, to read that the pontiff used an anti-gay slur during a meeting with priests in Rome. There was news that the pope used the same offensive term two weeks later. 

Two of the most prominent news agencies in Italy had used an offensive Italian slang term referring to gay men. 

According to a newspaper, the pope was reported as saying: “There is too much ‘frociaggine’ here in the Vatican.” The pontiff had been taking questions from a meeting of bishops when someone asked whether it was acceptable to admit openly gay men into seminaries. The Italian newspaper reported that Pope Francis answered “No” and used the slur word in describing what he considered as an excess of gay men in the seminaries for priests.

Later, the pope apologized through the director of the press office who said: “The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms and he extends his apologies to those who were offended by the use of a term, reported by others.”

An analysis of the press statement shows that while the pope apologized for the use of the homophobic term, he did not withdraw his statement that he believed that there was an excess of gay men at seminaries. In fact, the Vatican News, the online news site of the Vatican, wrote that the pope “spoke about the danger of ideologies in the Church” and said that while the Church should welcome people with “homosexual tendencies,” it should exercise prudence in admitting them in seminaries.

The backlash against the pope’s statement was especially widespread in Europe where same-sex marriage and the LGBTQ community have become widely accepted. 

But even within the Catholic Church, the pope’s remarks have become controversial. A gay priest wrote in America Magazine, the Jesuit publication, that he was shocked and saddened by the remarks and added, “We need more than an apology for Pope Francis’ homophobic slur.”

This controversy is a surprise