VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican issued an apology for Pope Francis reportedly using the word “f–ggotry” when referring to homosexual men in the Church and said the vulgarism was “homophobic.”
The statement issued to journalists by the director of the Holy See Press Office on May 28 reads: “Pope Francis is aware of the articles that came out recently about a conversation, behind closed doors, with the bishops of CEI (Italian Episcopal Conference).”
“As he said on several occasions, ‘In the Church there is room for everyone, for everyone! No one is useless, no one is superfluous, there is room for everyone. Just as we are, everyone.’”
“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, reported by others.”
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While the Press Office did not explicitly confirm the reported statements as accurate, the Vatican appears to implicitly admit the truth of the story by issuing an apology.
On Monday, it was widely reported that Pope Francis had used the vulgar Italian term “frociaggine” (“f–ggotry”) when asked about the possibility of admitting homosexual men to Catholic seminaries during the General Assembly of the Italian Bishops’ Conference on Sunday.
The Italian outlet Dagospia was the first to report Francis said that “in the Church, there is too much of an atmosphere of f–ggotry.” Dagospia claimed that he also said that bishops must, therefore, “get all the queers [checche] out of the seminaries, even those only semi-oriented.”
Other outlets reported that he had used the expression not of the Church but of the seminaries.
Adnkronos reported that Francis said, “There is a culture today of homosexuality such that those who have a homosexual orientation are better off not being accepted” into the seminary because “it is very difficult for a boy who has this tendency not to fall afterwards because they come thinking that the priest’s life can sustain them, but then they fall in the exercise of the ministry.”
The Italian blog Messa in Latino reported that two of the bishops present at the meeting confirmed Francis’ use of the expression “frociaggine.”
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In its statement, the Holy See Press Office failed to reiterate Church teaching on the inherent sinfulness of homosexual acts and the disordered nature of homosexual tendencies, quoting only Francis’ ambiguous statement that “there is room for everyone” in the Church while not mentioning the need for repentance for sin.
The Vatican used the word “homophobic” to describe Francis’ crude remarks, a term used by LGBT activists to try to pathologize those, including faithful Catholics who recognize homosexual acts to be sinful and to falsely accuse them of “hating” people who suffer homosexual tendencies or who commit homosexual acts.
However, the Church has always distinguished between the condemnation of a sinful act while simultaneously loving the sinner. In fact, the Church recognizes correcting sinners as a spiritual work of mercy.
Church teaching on admitting homosexual men to the priesthood
In an instruction from 2005, approved by Pope Benedict XVI, the Congregation for Catholic Education reiterated the Church’s prohibition on men with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” being admitted to seminary or Holy Orders.
The instruction states that “this Dicastery, in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called ‘gay culture.’”
“Such persons, in fact, find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women,” the instruction continues. “One must in no way overlook the negative consequences that can derive from the ordination of persons with deep-seated homosexual tendencies.”
The Vatican reaffirmed the prohibition of admitting men with homosexual tendencies to the seminary in 2016 during Francis’ pontificate. However, Pope Francis has a record of supporting openly homosexual clerics like Fr. James Alison.
The Pope also has an extensive record of promoting dissident, pro-LGBT clerics like Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego and LGBT activist priests like Fr. James Martin, SJ. Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, of Luxembourg, whom Francis appointed the relator general of his Synod on Synodality, has said that he believes Church teaching on the sinfulness of homosexual acts is “false.”
In December, Francis approved the heterodox document “Fiducia Supplicans” authored by Cardinal Victor Fernandez, the head of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith. Because it endorses the “blessing” of homosexual “couples,” it drew condemnations from bishops around the world, including Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Cardinal Robert Sarah, and the majority of the African bishops.
The Catholic Church infallibly teaches that all homosexual activity is gravely sinful.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2357) teaches that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law.” The Catechism is very clear that homosexual activity can never be approved and repeats that “(h)omosexual persons are called to chastity,” adding that the homosexual inclination is “objectively disordered.”