The Vatican has apologised after the Pope used a highly offensive word about gay men.
Italian media reported on Monday that Francis used the Italian term “frociaggine”, roughly translating as “f****try”, in a private meeting last week when he was asked whether gay men should be allowed to train for the priesthood provided they remained celibate.
In a statement, it said: "Pope Francis is aware of the articles recently published about a conversation, behind closed doors, with the bishops of the CEI [the Italian Episcopal Conference of Catholic bishops].
"As he stated on several occasions, 'In the Church there is room for everyone, for everyone! Nobody is useless, nobody is superfluous, there is room for everyone. Just as we are, all of us.'
"The Pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he apologises to those who felt offended by the use of a term reported by others."
Francis made the remark in a closed-door meeting with bishops, when describing priesthood colleges as already too full of "frociaggine" - a highly offensive Italian slur.
He is said to have reiterated that gay men should not be allowed to become priests.
The remark was reportedly made on 20 May, as first reported by political gossip website Dagospia, when the Italian Bishops Conference held a private meeting with the Pope.
"It's all the fault of some bishop who broke his mandate of silence to report the gaffe that occurred last week," reported Il Messaggero, a national paper based in Rome.
According to the paper, the Pope's comments came during an informal Q&A session at the annual bishops' meeting which was attended by more than 200 members of the clergy.
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