I, for one, didn’t think we’d ever be writing about Pope Francis on Strong Language, but the world is full of wonders. Readers of The New York Times have been informed today that “Pope Apologizes After Reports That He Used an Anti-Gay Slur.” The Gray Lady (specifically Elisabetta Povelodo, reporting from Rome) has even deigned to repeat what the slur was… in Italian. Not to worry; they have… not translated it, just given a sort of description:

Francis had been taking questions from the bishops at their annual assembly when the question of whether to admit openly gay men into seminaries, or priesthood colleges, came up.

According to several people present at the meeting, who spoke anonymously to Italian news outlets, Francis stated a firm no, saying that seminaries were already too full of “frociaggine,” an offensive Italian slang term referring to gay men.

Not sure exactly how the term would be translated? The Daily Mirror is here to help, with its headline blaring “Pope Francis shocks bishops by allegedly saying gay men should not be admitted to church seminaries because ‘there’s already too much f*****ry’.” Elena Salvoni’s article explains,

Italian news agency Adnkronos, citing sources, reported that the Pope said in the speech: ‘Look: there is already an air of f*****ry around that is not good. There is today’s culture of homosexuality with respect to those who have a homosexual orientation [who] are better off not being accepted [into the seminary].’

The remark was met with ‘incredulous laughter’, bishops told newspaper Corriere della Sera. Some suggested that it was an honest mistake by the Pope, for whom Italian is a second language, and that he ‘did not know’ how offensive the word was.

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