VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) – A choir called the “F*** Cancer Choir” sang for Pope Francis after his Wednesday Papal Audience this week.
The Italian choir advocates for “more acceptance of people living with cancer.”
It was reported by Euro News that the choir got good seats with the help of a nun who works with the group.
When the formal audience was finished, the group approached Pope Francis and sang for him while he remained seated.
The group posted a video of the encounter to the Facebook page. It shows that the Pope laughed and called them “poets.” He was apparently not dismayed at the use of foul language in his presence.
The Italian-speaking choir chose the English obscenity intentionally. Federica Grosso, one of the founders of the group, told Reuters: “We know what the word means in English but it was chosen by our patients to show that there is a possibility of living with cancer in a human way, all together.”
Memorare Media publisher J. Basil Dannebohm disapproved of the use of the offensive word. He wrote: “If Pope Francis considers the “F-word” poetic, I’ve know a few limericks that would have him convinced that I’m the next Lord Byron.”
Dannebohm also criticized what he believed was the failure of Catholic media to report on the story.
He wrote: “CNA published a story on Wednesday’s audience. However, rather than providing facts, the EWTN owned affiliate chose to offer readers a saccharine story fawning over the latest “words of wisdom” offered by Francis.”
The controversial moment at his Wednesday audience came just days after the Pope made striking claims about the Holy Spirit during his Pentecost homily.
On Pentecost Sunday he depicted the third Person of the Holy Trinity as the “author of division,” a term Francis explained by saying: “And finally, oddly, the Holy Spirit is the author of division, of ruckus, of a certain disorder. Think of the morning of Pentecost: He is the author … he creates division of languages and attitudes … it was a ruckus, that! Yet at the same time, he is the author of harmony. He divides with the variety of charisms, but it is a false division, because true division is part of harmony. He creates division with charisms and he creates harmony with all this division. This is the richness of the Church.”