Since early in his reign, Pope Francis has faced sharp criticism from Conservatives and traditionalists for alleged Modernist beliefs. Some of his more vocal critics accuse Francis of differing with unchangeable Church teaching on the sin of sodomy. These allegations stem from misrepresented statements he made in 2013 and, more recently, his signing of a DDF document allowing blessings for repentant same-sex-attracted persons.
But in a major setback for his detractors, more recent accounts report Pope Francis reaffirming the Church’s ban on gay priests in no uncertain terms.
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis used a highly derogatory term towards the LGBT community as he reiterated in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops that gay people should not be allowed to become priests, Italian media reported on Monday.
La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, Italy’s largest circulation dailies, both quoted the pope as saying seminaries, or priesthood colleges, are already too full of “frociaggine”, a vulgar Italian term roughly translating as “faggotness”.
Related: DDF Vindicates Francis on Fiducia
Checking the cited sources appears to confirm the Pope’s unequivocal condemnation of seminaries’ tolerance for homosexual behavior.
La Repubblica attributed its story to several unspecified sources, while Corriere said it was backed up by a few, unnamed bishops, who suggested the pope, as an Argentine, might have not realised that the Italian term he used was offensive.
Reuters did not elaborate on who the term was offensive to, and by what standard.
Political gossip website Dagospia was the first to report on the alleged incident, said to have happened on May 20, when the Italian Bishops Conference opened a four-day assembly with a non-public meeting with the pontiff.
Related: Francis out of Context
The silence from Pope Francis’ harshest critics, as well as gay activists who’ve exploited past vague statements, has been deafening in the wake of the Holy Father’s latest comments.
Of note is the mainstream media’s rush to judge the See of Peter which, according to the Code of Canon Law, is judged by no one.
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