Homosexuals should not become priests: Pope Francis

Pope Francis made some very negative comments towards the LGBT community in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops, saying gay people should not become priests. This was reported by the Reuters news agency, citing Italian media reports on Monday.

The Pope quoted “La Repubblica” and “Corriere della Sera”, Italy’s most widely circulated daily newspapers, as saying that seminaries are already full of “frociaggin”, which can be translated as “homosexual”. The Vatican did not respond to a request for comment.

The daily La Repubblica cites several unnamed sources, while the Courier reports that some unnamed bishops confirmed the story and that the pope, as an Argentine, would not have felt the Italian word he used was offensive.

Political gossip site Dagospia first reported the alleged incident, which reportedly occurred on May 20 as the Italian bishops’ conference began a four-day meeting with a closed-door meeting with the pope.

Pope Francis, 87, is credited with leading the Roman Catholic Church to become more open to the LGBT community. In 2013, at the start of his pontificate, he famously said: “If someone is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”, and last year he allowed priests to bless members of same-sex couples. This prompted a significant conservative backlash.

Yet Francis had already announced a similar message regarding gay seminaries in a meeting with Italian bishops in 2018 — without the implied insult. He called on them to carefully screen applicants for the priesthood and reject those suspected of being homosexual.