The Pope used a highly offensive word towards the LGBT community as he reaffirmed his stance that gay people should not be priests, Italian media has reported.
Pope Francis is believed to have made the remark in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops, according to the country’s largest daily newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera.
Both quoted the Pope as using a vulgar term when describing priesthood colleges as already too full of homosexuality.
The Vatican has not commented on the reports.
The incident is said to have happened on 20 May, as first reported by political gossip website Dagospia, when the Italian Bishops Conference held a private meeting with the Pope.
La Repubblica based its story on several unspecified sources, while Corriere cited unnamed bishops, who suggested the Pope, an Argentine, might have not realised the Italian term is offensive.
The Pope, who is 87, has been credited with leading the Roman Catholic Church into taking a more welcoming approach towards the LGBT community.
At the start of his papacy in 2013, he said: “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”
Last year, he allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, triggering significant conservative backlash.
But in 2018, he told Italian bishops to carefully vet priesthood applicants and reject any suspected homosexuals.
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In a 2005 document, during Benedict XVI’s papacy, the Vatican said the church could admit into the priesthood those who had overcome homosexual tendencies for at least three years.
The document said those with “deep-seated” gay tendencies and those who “support the so-called gay culture” should be barred.