Given absolutely everything about the Catholic Church, the Pope saying homophobic slurs — as he was reported to have done recently in two separate closed-door meetings — shouldn’t exactly come as a surprise. But some queer people have latched onto one other obvious aspect of this whole snafu: something about the Holy Father using an Italian gay slur is extremely funny.
One of those queer people is none other than Omar Apollo, who appeared in the latest episode of comedian Kareem Rahma’s TikTok series Subway Takes. In a video uploaded Thursday, the “Evergreen” singer shared his take: “I think we should let the Pope say faggot.” This proved to be too hot of a take for Rahma, who immediately shut down that line of inquiry.
TikTok content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
In case you somehow missed the incidents in question, Pope Francis was initially reported to have used an Italian equivalent of the F-slur — the word “frociaggine” — in a private meeting with Italian bishops at the end of May. Though the Vatican issued an apology, reports emerged in mid-June (Pride Month, of all months) that the Pope had once again used the slur in a meeting with Roman priests.
Apollo is not the only queer celeb who believes it’s hilarious that the Pope got caught using a word that translates roughly to “faggotry.” In the latest episode of their podcast Gayotic, the band MUNA discussed why the incident felt so funny to them. “I think it’s fine when gay people are laughing at homophobic things,” lead singer Katie Gavin said in a clip from the podcast posted to TikTok.
TikTok content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
The rest of the band, and guest star El Kempner (a.k.a. the musician Palehound) responded with an emphatic, “Absolutely!”
“I do that every day,” Kempner said, with Josette Maskin adding, “That’s the only thing I have.”
They all agreed that the Pope incident was “hilarious” and “one of the funniest things ever,” before Naomi McPherson launched into a truly inspired impression of the Pope.
“God loves everyone, even the fruity fagioli!” they said in an over-the-top Italian accent.
Obviously, many non-celebrity LGBTQ+ people among us also got their own Pope jokes in. Specifically, the Italian gays really had a field day with that one, with one X user explaining that the very word Pope Francis chose to use was hilarious in and of itself, as it’s something that “a twink in a nightclub would say.”
