Pope Francis 'Repeats Gay Slur' Just Weeks After Being Forced to Apologize for Saying There Was 'an Air of F-----ry' in the Church

Pope Francis allegedly repeated a gay slur just two weeks after the Vatican was forced to issue an apology for his use of the same homophobic term, RadarOnline.com has learned.

In a meeting with priests in Rome, Italian news agency ANSA reports, the Pope said that "there is an air of frociaggine in the Vatican" and stated that men with "homosexual tendencies" should not be allowed to enter the seminary and become Catholic priests.

Frociaggine is a vulgar and derogatory Italian term that roughly translates to "f----tness" or "f----try."

In a statement, the Vatican said that the Pope had spoken of the “danger of ideologies in the Church” and “reiterated the need to welcome and accompany gay men in the Church” but called for caution in allowing them into the priesthood.

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Pope Francis apologized after allegedly using the same homophobic slur while defending the Catholic Church's ban on gay priests during a private discussion with Italian bishops last month.

At the time, Italian newspapers quoted the pope as jokingly saying that seminaries are already too full of "frociaggine."

The Vatican issued an apology on the Pope's behalf the day after the first incident was reported. "Pope Francis is aware of the articles recently published about a conversation, behind closed doors, with the bishops of the CEI," Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

"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 statement continued. "The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he apologizes to those who felt offended by the use of a term reported by others."

Pope Francis' is an Argentine whose native language is Spanish, not Italian, and according to Italian newspaper Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, "it was evident that the Pope was not aware of how offensive the word is in Italian."

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Since ascending to the papacy in 2013, Pope Francis has been credited with taking strides to make the church more accepting and inclusive of the LGBT community. "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?" he famously said when asked about gay priests in 2013, and he allowed priests to bless same-sex couples last year.

But the 87-year-old pontiff has steadfastly resisted approving gay clergymen — upholding the Vatican's official policy, approved under his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, that "the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture.'"

In 2018, Francis reportedly warned Italian bishops in another closed-door meeting that applicants to the priesthood should be vetted carefully and anyone suspected of being gay should be rejected. "If in doubt, better not let them enter," he was quoted as saying at the time.