VATICAN CITY (RNS) — He’s been called liberal, progressive, populist, disruptive and even pop, but Pope Francis remains as slippery as ever to those who want to confine the pontiff to a particular camp. The latest example of this ambiguity is Francis’ recent homophobic comments in which he suggested, using slurs, that he would bar gay men from becoming priests.“Look, there is already an air of faggotry around, and it’s not good. There is a culture of homosexuality today that makes it so that those who have a homosexual orientation should not be welcomed (in seminaries),” said Francis, answering a question from a bishop during the Italian bishops’ annual gathering on May 20.
“It’s very difficult for a young man with this tendency to not go astray, because they come in thinking that the life of the priest can support them, but they eventually fall (into temptation) while administering the faith,” the 87-year-old pope said, according to Italian media reports.
Some supporters said Francis’ comments, made in a closed-door 90-minute session with the Italian bishops, might be excused as the papal equivalent of “locker-room talk”; papal supporters were also quick to underline that Italian is not the pope’s native language and that the words were taken out of context.
But Massimo Borghesi, a moral theologian and author of “The Mind …
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
“It’s very difficult for a young man with this tendency to not go astray, because they come in thinking that the life of the priest can support them, but they eventually fall (into temptation) while administering the faith,” the 87-year-old pope said, according to Italian media reports.
Some supporters said Francis’ comments, made in a closed-door 90-minute session with the Italian bishops, might be excused as the papal equivalent of “locker-room talk”; papal supporters were also quick to underline that Italian is not the pope’s native language and that the words were taken out of context.
But Massimo Borghesi, a moral theologian and author of “The Mind …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]