Pope Francis used the derogatory term during a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops while discussing the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests.FILE - Pope Francis attends his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Aug. 23, 2023. ROME, Italy — Pope Francis apologized Tuesday after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gay men to reaffirm the
Bruni said Francis was aware of the reports and recalled that the Argentine pope, who has made outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics a hallmark of his papacy, has long insisted there was “room for everyone” in the Catholic Church. Francis was addressing an assembly of the Italian bishops conference, which recently approved a new document outlining training for Italian seminarians. The document, which hasn’t been published pending review by the Holy See, reportedly sought to open some wiggle room in the Vatican’s absolute ban on gay priests by introducing the issue of celibacy as the primary requirement for priests, gay or straight.