During a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops, Pope Francis used a homophobic slur while reaffirming the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests.

Unnamed Italian bishops had told Italian media that Pope Francis said “fness” in a joking manner while speaking in Italian during the May 20 meeting. Francis had allegedly said that “there is already an air of fness” in seminaries while reaffirming the church’s ban on gay men entering the seminary. 

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni released a statement apologizing for Pope Francis’s remarks.

“The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who were offended by the use of a term that was reported by others,” Bruni said. 

The pope’s remark came right after the Italian Bishops’ Conference had recently approved a new document outlining training for Italian seminarians. The document, which needed further approval by the Holy See before being published, had sought to loosen the Vatican’s ban on gay priests. 

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The Vatican’s ban on gay priests was made in a 2005 document from the Congregation for Catholic Education and was reaffirmed again in 2016. 

Pope Francis has long been a strong supporter of the inclusion of LGBT people in the Catholic Church, and last year, he approved the blessing of people in same-sex relationships.