THE INDEPENDENT
Gossip is a “woman’s thing”, Pope Francis is alleged to have told a group of priests at a recent meeting in Rome.
The remark was said to have been made by the pontiff at a closed-door meeting just days after he apologised for reportedly using a homophobic slur.
The head of the Catholic Church, 87, is said to have advised the priests, ordained within the past 10 years, of “badmouthing” in parishes and congregations
.“Gossip is a women’s thing,” he allegedly said. “We wear the trousers, we have to say things.”His alleged comments were first reported by Silere Non Possum, a Catholic website critical of the pope, before being picked up by mainstream Italian newspapers and agencies.
A collaborator with Silere Non Possum told The Times that they had a recording of the meeting which they were prepared to released if the Vatican denied the comments had been made.
Francis has previously denounced gossip in the church, describing it as the devil’s work and a plague “worse than Covid” and “terrorism”.
In 2018 he told pilgrims in St Peter’s Square that gossip kills “because the tongue kills, like a knife”.
