Vatican issues apology over Pope Francis’s ‘homophobic’ slur

Statement says pontiff apologises ‘to those who felt offended by the term reported by others’

Matteo Bruni, the director of the Vatican’s press office, said Francis was aware of the newspaper reports about the closed-door conversation. Picture: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images

Pope Francis has apologised for using an offensive slur during a discussion with bishops about admitting gay men into seminaries, saying he “never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms”.

The apology followed reports in the Italian press on Monday that, during the discussion in Rome last week, the pontiff, 87, had said there was already too much “frociaggine” in some seminaries. The Italian word roughly translates as “faggotness”.