(The CWR. Christopher R. Altieri),
Troppa frociaggine. It’s an Italian expression meaning “too much faggotry”—that’s not a rough translation, and the Italian word hits about as hard as the English—and Pope Francis reportedly used it in a closed-door gathering with the bishops of Italy last week in the Vatican, while discussing the admission of homosexual men to Italian seminaries (among other things), a sensitive topic in light of the Italian bishops’ ongoing work on new admissions standards for their seminaries. “There is too much frociaggine in Italian seminaries,” the leading Italian papers quoted Pope Francis as having said, the implication being that there is too much of the thing already and therefore no need for more of it. There’s been a lot of talk in the press—especially in the secular mainstream—about whether Pope Francis knew what he was saying, but there wasn’t much discussion of whether he said the thing. Make no mistake: This is really bad—and practically unspinnable.