At a closed-door meeting with the Italian bishops during their Plenary Assembly May 20 in Rome, Pope Francis advised against admitting homosexuals to the seminary, and reportedly used a slang term to refer to homosexual behavior which many in Italy and around the world found offensive in his answer… (Photo Credit: Vatican Media)

“There is already too much ‘faggotry’… It is better not to ordain someone with these tendencies.” —Pope Francis on May 20, when asked by Italian bishops about the idea of accepting homosexuals into Catholic seminaries

“The Pope says that we need to speak clearly, with ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ without always bogging everything down with indigestible ambiguities that make everything go smoothly. This attitude seems crazy to… all the conformists of our time… Long live the Pope’s inappropriate words, long live the carelessness of Francis.” — Mario Andinolfi, outspoken traditional Catholic journalist, politician and blogger in the Catholic online journal edited by Marco Tosatti, Stilum Curiae

Letter #15, 2024, Tuesday, May 28: Francis surprises
Pope Francis made remarks to the Plenary Assembly of the Italian episcopate on May 20 at a private, closed-door gathering which, nevertheless, found their way into the press via an anonymous attendee at the meeting.

When asked specifically by two different Italian bishops whether they should admit homosexual men to study for the priesthood, Pope Francis reportedly counseled against it, surprising many who have perceived — and portrayed — Francis, Pope since 2013, for more than 11 years now, as a powerful proponent of the “liberalization” of the attitude toward homosexuality in the Church.

But what really caused a stir was that Francis, in giving this counsel, said there is already “too much faggotry” (“frociaggine“) in Catholic seminaries.

It was the use of this slang word, “frociaggine,” which sparked a massive outcry, as the secular media slammed Francis for being so callous as to use a derogatory Italian slang term used by “homophobics.”

And because Francis chose to use this word, some have begun to question, even to revise, their entire interpretation of his papacy(!).

“Pope Francis’s homophobic slur shows us once again that he is no saint,” was the title of one article by Michael Day on the INews website in the UK (link).

“Is the current pontiff Francis living up to claims – or perhaps hopes – that his reign would usher in an era of less hostility to gays?” Day asked. “The answer to this is probably ‘no.'”

Day continued:

“Famously in 2013, the Argentinian pontiff sounded a more tolerant note on sexuality after he replaced the ultra-conservative Pope Ratzinger.

“Francis declared: ‘If they [gay priests] accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalised. The tendency [same-sex attraction] is not the problem… they’re our brothers.’

“But reacting the Pope’s latest comments, veteran Vatican watcher Robert Mickens, editor-in-chief of the progressive Catholic La Croix International website, says: ‘This shows that despite the noises about greater inclusiveness in recent years, nothing has really changed.'”(!)

Day went on:

“The offensive word Francis used – ‘frociaggine‘ – is the kind of crude term (based on the slur ‘frocio‘ or ‘faggot’), typical of the local Roman slang.

“Several bishops present at the meeting have suggested that the Pope, who grew up in an Italian-speaking household, didn’t understand its offensiveness. So too, have some of the unduly deferential correspondents who exist with them in the Vatican bubble.

“Some others suggest it is simply more evidence of 87-year-old Francis getting ever more irascible in his old age…

“Despite the earlier noises Francis made about the Church being more welcoming of the LGBT community, he remains at heart a conservative Catholic bishop, who grew up in the macho culture of Argentina.”

Francis surprises the “Francis watchers”
After the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Victor Fernández, released last December’s widely-discussed (and widely-criticized) Fiducia Supplicans on the blessing of same-sex — and other “irregular” — couples, many assumed that it was a step in the direction of “normalizing” homosexuality in the Catholic Church.

So it came as something of a surprise that Pope Francis answered the two Italian bishops’ question about admitting homosexual men to the seminary in the negative, saying, “It is better not to ordain someone with these tendencies.”

In fact, Francis said that it is better to “lose a vocation” than to have to deal with the “problems” often caused by homosexuality in the seminary and priesthood.

And he added this advice to the bishops: “Don’t talk to reporters about it.”

Many were quick to lay the blame not on Francis himself but on his imperfect grasp of the Italian language (he is a native Spanish speaker), and especially of Italian slang.

“According to the bishops contacted” by Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, “it is clear that the pontiff was not aware of how insulting his words were in Italian,” the leading Italian daily wrote on its website.

Today, eight days after the Pope made his remarks to the bishops, the Vatican Press office finally responded to the controversy with an apology from the Pope to anyone who might have been offended.

The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, told reporters that Pope Francis is “aware” of the articles about his closed-door conversation with the Italian Bishops, and affirmed that the Pope apologized for any offense. (link)

“As he has stated on many occasions,” said Bruni, “‘There is room for everyone in the Church, 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 apologizes to those who felt offended by the use of a term, as reported by others.”

Meanwhile, today the conservative Italian Catholic online journal Stilum Curiae ran an article (link) by Mario Andinolfi, an outspoken traditional Catholic journalist, politician and blogger, in which Andinolfi went so far as to praise Francis for his frankness — even if it was a “careless” frankness — with the Italian bishops, in speaking negatively about the admission of homosexuals to the seminary.

Referring to one of the many Italian media figures who have painted the Francis papacy as a progressive “engine for change” in the Church, Andinolfi asked: “Who knows what he will say about Francis today, not understanding that the Catholic Church is the only source of light in an Italy darkened by their ferocious conformism which now pretends to be scandalized by a frank word used by the Pope in a closed-door meeting to explain that as Catholics we embrace everyone, but we do not resign ourselves to the spread of the sin that we call by its name.”

And Andinolfi concluded:

“Long live the Pope’s inappropriate words, long live the carelessness of Francis.” —RM

https://insidethevatican.com/news/newsflash/letter-15-2024-tuesday-may-28-francis-surprises/