The sovereign pontiff “never intended to offend or express himself with homophobic remarks and apologizes to those who felt offended by the use of a word”, he said. explained Tuesday in a press release.
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“Frociaggine” is a word belonging to the dialect of Rome that is difficult to translate. Pope Francis apologized on Tuesday, May 28, after using this term, considered in Italian to be vulgar and insulting to homosexual people, during a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops. The sovereign pontiff “never intended to offend or express himself with homophobic remarks and apologizes to those who felt offended by the use of a word”according to this press release.
“Frociaggine” a derivative of “frocio”, an insult meaning “faggot” in Roman, and which pejoratively designates an environment conditioned by “fags”. This word was spoken by the pope on May 20 during a closed-door meeting with 250 bishops of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI). The pope had invited them not to welcome openly gay people into religious seminaries, believing that there were already too many “frociaggine”.
These comments were reported on Monday by several Italian newspapers, notably the leading daily The Corriere della Sera. “According to the bishops contacted” by the Corriere, “it is obvious that the sovereign pontiff was not aware of how insulting his remarks were in Italian”wrote the main Italian daily on its website. “More than embarrassment, his remarks were greeted with some incredulous laughter because of the gaffe” of the Pope, whose mother tongue is not Italian, “was obvious”still according to this newspaper.
These controversial words were picked up by media around the world, sparking disappointment and indignation among LGBTQ rights associations.
