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The Pope used a highly offensive word towards gay men as he reaffirmed his stance that they should not be priests, Italian media has reported.
Pope Francis is believed to have made the remark in a closed-door meeting with bishops, according to the country’s largest daily newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera.
Both quoted the Pope as describing priesthood colleges as already too full of “frociaggine” – a highly offensive Italian slur.
The Vatican has not commented on the reports.
Pic: Reuters
The incident is said to have happened on 20 May, as first reported by political gossip website Dagospia, when the Italian Bishops Conference held a private meeting with the Pope.
La Repubblica based its story on several unspecified sources, while Corriere cited unnamed bishops, who suggested the Pope, an Argentinian, might have not realised the Italian term is offensive.
“It’s all the fault of some bishop who broke his mandate of silence to report the gaffe that occurred last week,” reported Il Messaggero, a national paper based in Rome.
According to the paper, the Pope’s comments came during an informal Q&A session at the annual bishops’ meeting which was attended by over 200 members of the clergy.
The Pope, 87, has been credited with leading the Roman Catholic Church into taking a more welcoming approach towards the LGBT+ community.
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At the start of his papacy in 2013, he said: “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”
Last year, he allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, triggering significant conservative backlash.
But in 2018, he told Italian bishops to carefully vet priesthood applicants and reject anyone suspected of being gay.
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In a 2005 document, during Benedict XVI’s papacy, the Vatican said the church could admit into the priesthood those who had overcome gay tendencies for at least three years.
The document said those with “deep-seated” gay tendencies and those who “support the so-called gay culture” should be barred.
Mike Tyson has been recovering after falling ill during a flight, his representatives have said.
The 58-year-old former heavyweight champion “became nauseous and dizzy due to an ulcer flare up 30 minutes before landing” on Sunday, his publicist’s office said in a statement.
“Thankfully Mr Tyson is doing great,” the statement said.
“He is appreciative to the medical staff that were there to help him.”
First responders were sent to American Airlines flight 1815 from Miami as it landed at LA International Airport “due to the medical needs of a customer”, an airline statement said.
Tyson is due to fight 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul on 20 July at the 80,000-seat home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Tyson (third from left) and Paul (second from right) are due to fight in July. Pic: AP
Netflix will show the fight live, a first for the streaming platform.
Tyson was undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990.
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He retired in 2005, but most recently fought in an exhibition in 2020 against Roy Jones in California.
In August 2022, photos showed the boxing legend in a wheelchair while holding a walking stick at an airport terminal, with Tyson later revealing he suffered with sciatica.
A teenage boy was saved by his brother after a black bear barged into his cabin and left him with scratches across his face and arm – with the animal having a sit down on a sofa on the family’s porch after the attack.
Brigham Hawkins, 15, was “just chilling” in one of two cabins on his family’s property in Alpine, Arizona, when the bear “walked in through the front door and swiped him across the head” on Thursday evening, his mother Carol said.
Ms Hawkins told Sky News’ US partner NBC News that Brigham has a “neurological disorder” and she believes he would have been killed if her other son Parker, 18, had not intervened.
The mother said: “The front door was open to let the cool night air in.
“Brigham was watching YouTube and didn’t realise what was happening.”
Ms Hawkin said her son “started screaming” during the attack, adding: “[The bear] got him on the nose and the cheek and then went ahead and got his forehead and the top of his head.”
Parker ran over from the other cabin in the family’s garden after hearing the screams, Ms Hawkins said.
She continued: “Parker at first thought it was a big dog of some kind.
“Then the bear saw Parker and began to chase him. That gave Brigham time to slam the door shut in his cabin.”
Ms Hawkins added that Parker then managed to make it back to the other cabin as the bear followed him.
She continued: “[The bear] was just pacing there for a while as we watched him through the window.
“Then he sat down on a couch on the porch and just looked around. It was insane.”
Ms Hawkins said that while she dialled 911 and called a neighbour for help, her husband Shane waited for the bear to look away before darting to the cabin where Brigham was holed-up.
“He slammed the door in the bear’s face,” she said.
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The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), whose agents arrived at the scene, said at one stage during the family’s ordeal the bear entered Brigham’s cabin a second time before “swiping at the victim’s arm”.
However, the bear was no longer besieging the cabins by the time the AZGFD agents arrived.
“After arriving on scene, AZGFD wildlife officers were able to quickly locate and dispatch the bear,” the agency said in a statement.
The bear was a male estimated to be three years old and his carcass will be tested for diseases, the AZGFD said.
Ms Hawkins said her son is “doing better” and has already received a round of rabies shots as a precaution.
Reflecting on why the bear may have attacked, she said: “He may have just been hungry… but that’s just not a normal way for a bear to behave.”
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Ms Hawkins continued: “[Brigham] has a neurological disorder and would not have been able to get away from the bear.
“It took a few miracles happening at the same time to save him.”
She added: “This really could have been a lot worse.
“We’re still in disbelief that this happened, but we’re also feeling very blessed.”
There have been 16 bear attacks on people in Arizona since 1990 – with two of them having been fatal, according to the AZGFD.
The most recent fatality occurred when a 66-year-old man was killed while drinking a cup of coffee in the woods in Prescott last year.
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