(Associated Press).
The Rome LGBTQ+ Pride parade celebrated its 30th anniversary Saturday as tens of thousands of people in brightly colored outfits marched through the Italian capital waving banners, dancing and singing as they marked gay rights and poked fun at Pope Francis. Many of the signs and banners at the parade made fun over a recent comment made by the pontiff. The Pope had to issue an apology last month after Italian media quoted unnamed bishops saying that Francis jokingly used the term “faggotness” while speaking in Italian during a meeting. He had used the term in reaffirming the Vatican’s ban on allowing gay men to enter seminaries and be ordained priests.Francis reportedly repeated the word a second time in a meeting with Rome priests this week.