Pope faces backlash over offensive language towards LGBTQIA+ community

A student from the Philippines wearing a rainbow armband during Pope Francis' Thursday meeting with young people, streamed live on the internet, made a special plea. He asked the Holy Father to stop using offensive language towards the LGBTQIA+ community. In response, Francis opposed discrimination but did not address the accusations of using homophobic language.

The Pope is facing accusations of intolerance following a leak of information from the May Conference of the Italian Bishops' Conference. In his speech, Francis reportedly made unfortunate remarks to about 200 bishops gathered at the event.

He called for more excellent selectivity in admitting candidates to seminaries. However, while commenting on this problem, Francis used words that were unfortunately chosen.

He allegedly said that too many gays are coming into the church structure. He decided to use a solid Italian term. To the surprise of those present, he mentioned "frociaggine," which translates to the highly offensive "faggotry."

As reported by Reuters, which covered the Pope’s Thursday meeting online, student Jack Lorenz Acebedo Rivera from the Philippines wanted to explain to the Holy Father how harmful it is to use such language towards the LGBTQIA+ community. He said he experiences painful exclusions and bullying.

This referred to the May incident, which is said to have harmed Francis' image as a reform-friendly Pope and ally of the "rainbow" community. "Stop using offensive language against the LGBTQIA+ community, this leads to immense pain. I myself I am outcasted and bullied due to my bisexuality, my gayness, my identity, and being a son of a single parent" – Acebedo Rivera said.

The Vatican issued an official apology after the Papal speech leaked to the media. The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, reported that the Pope is aware of recent articles about the closed-door conversation with bishops from the Italian Bishops' Conference.

The Church official said that the Pope did not intend to offend anyone. He also did not want to use homophobic terms. He also apologized to those who felt offended by using such a term.

Among the comments following this leak were those suggesting that Pope Francis, as an Argentinean, might not have realized that the Italian term he used was offensive. Matteo Bruni, who apologized to the Pope after the incident, also assured that there is a place for everyone in the Church. "No-one is useless, no-one is superfluous, there is room for everyone. Just as we are, everyone" - he said.

Jack Lorenz Acebedo Rivera, a psychology student at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, spoke to the Pope during the YouTube broadcast panel discussion on building bridges in the Asia-Pacific region. "I myself I am outcasted and bullied due to my bisexuality, my gayness, my identity, and being a son of a single parent" - he said.

The student also urged the Pope to take action to facilitate divorces in the Philippines. In response, Francis spoke of his opposition to discrimination, especially against women, but did not address Acebedo Rivera's plea regarding his alleged homophobic language.