Pope, shock sentence against gays in seminaries. Then the apology: I did not want to offend, in the Church there is room for everyone

Very harsh attack by Pope Francis against the presence of homosexuals in seminaries. In the closed-door meeting with over 200 Italian bishops, which opened the general assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference in the Synod Hall on Monday, the Pontiff launched into a very serious call for greater selection in access to seminaries, not without using colourful terms and even pointing the finger - as reported by the website Dagospia, followed by other media - against the excess of 'faggotry'.

"Look: there is already an air of faggotry around that is not good. There is today's culture of homosexuality with respect to which those who have a homosexual orientation are better off not being accepted" in the seminary because "it is very difficult for a boy who has this tendency not to fall because they come thinking that the life of a priest can support them but then they fall in the exercise of the ministry". These are the precise words, according to what Adnkronos learns, spoken by the Pope during the meeting with the Italian Bishops last Monday behind closed doors, which made the bishops themselves "gasp", as they themselves confirm, but which the Pontiff used to warn those present that what for today's culture seems the most normal thing, for the ordained ministry is not, exposing young people to the risk of "falling".

From the 'who am I to judge' to a now much more strident position, if only with regard to the selection and training of priests. The issue has been debated for many years, and already an instruction from the Vatican's dicastery for the Clergy in 2005 - under Benedict XVI - confirmed in 2016 with Pope Francis, stated that "the Church, while deeply respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the Seminary and to Holy Orders those who practice homosexuality, present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or support the so-called gay culture".

"Pope Francis is aware of the articles that recently came out about a conversation, behind closed doors, with the bishops of the CEI. As he has had occasion to state on several occasions 'In the Church there is room for everyone, for everyone! No one is useless, no one is superfluous, there is room for everyone. Just as we are, everyone'. The Pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he addresses his apologies to those who felt offended by the use of a term, referred to by others'. This was stated by the Vatican press office

The Italian bishops, for their part, at their last assembly in Assisi had debated the possibility of more nuanced restrictions, feeling encouraged precisely by Bergoglio's past openings on the subject of homosexuality. Albeit amid much contestation, an amendment had therefore been approved that limited itself to distinguishing between "acts" and "tendencies", reaffirming the obligation of celibacy for all seminarians, homosexual and heterosexual, and thus opening the door of the seminaries to gay candidates for the priesthood committed, however, to the option of celibacy. But in the one and a half hour discussion with the prelates, the Pope in fact barred the way: so respect, yes, for the gay person who knocks on the seminary doors, but placing firm stakes on access to prevent the homosexual who chooses the priesthood from ending up leading a double life, with all the negative consequences of the case. And to reinforce his opinion and be clear even with a joke, Francis is said to have complained explicitly about the excess of 'faggotry' in certain Italian seminaries.