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VATICAN CITY.- A student pleaded with Pope Francis on Thursday to stop using offensive language against the LGBT community. and criticized the 87-year-old Pontiff for homophobic insults which he had allegedly used during private meetings.
Acebedo Riveraa Filipino student at Ateneo de Manila University, urged him to “stop using offensive language” against LGBTQ people. ““Insults cause immense pain.”he said during a meeting with other students from Catholic universities.
His statements come after Francis was cited twice by the Italian media in the last month for using the Italian term “frociaggine”, which translates as “faggot,” at a time when he was referring to the priests and the general atmosphere in the Vatican. Afterwards he apologized to those who they felt “affected” and the Vatican said it did not intend to offend anyone.
The forum in which the Filipino spoke, which was broadcast live on social media on Thursday, focused on the topic “Building bridges” in a region with diverse religions and ethnicities; brought together students from Catholic universities from different countries so that they had the opportunity to listen to the Pontiff.
When the meeting moved to questions and interaction, Rivera told the Pope that he had been “marginalized and harassed” due to his bisexuality, his homosexuality, his identity and for being the son of a single father.
She then asked him: “Stop using offensive language against the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Rivera, who wore a sash with the colors of the LGBT flag over his traditional Filipino garment, also asked the Pope to “allow divorce”. Apart from the Vatican, the Philippines is the only country in the world where divorce is illegal. This is due to a strong lobby against by the Roman Catholic Church.
When speaking and responding, the Pope did not specifically address Rivera’s concerns, but said through a translator that he advised to differentiate true love from false love. “Always choose true love,” he said.
The Pope also told the group that “women are the best people” although society sees them as secondary to men.
He also recalled a conversation with a European leader, who, he said, told him that “maternal capacity” gives them an advantage over men. “Many women have raised children alone… A widower can hardly remain alone. A woman, alone, can certainly raise her family. This is the greatness of women,” added the Pontiff.
In this frame Reuters He asked a Vatican spokesperson for comment on this story but received no response.
Reuters Agency and with information from BBC
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