Pope apologizes for reported homophobic slur

Pope Francis presides over ordination mass at the Vatican

Francis, "as an Argentine, might have not realized that the Italian term he used was offensive"

(Image credit: Isabella Bonotto / AFP via Getty Images)

published 29 May 2024

What happened

The Vatican apologized Tuesday after Pope Francis was quoted using a homophobic slur during a private conversation about openly gay clergy with a group of Italian bishops last week.

Pope Francis "never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms" and "extends his apologies to those who were offended by the use of a term, reported by others," Vatican Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said. Francis reportedly said that "seminaries were already too full of 'frociaggine,' an offensive Italian slang term referring to gay men," The New York Times said. According to some bishops in the meeting, Francis, "as an Argentine, might have not realized that the Italian term he used was offensive," Reuters said.

Since assuming the papacy, Francis has been "widely credited with urging the church to be more welcoming to the LGBTQ community, and he has delivered a mostly inclusive message," the Times said.

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.