The pope has again used a highly disparaging word against gay people for which he had already apologised last month, ANSA news agency said on Tuesday.

Italian media had attributed to the pope the use of the word "frociaggine", a vulgar Italian term roughly translating as "faggotness", on May 20 during a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops.

According to ANSA, Francis repeated the term on Tuesday as he met Roman priests, saying "there is an air of faggotness in the Vatican," and it was better that young men with a homosexual tendency not be allowed to enter the seminary.

Asked about the latest report, the Vatican's press office made reference to a statement it had issued regarding Tuesday's meeting with the priests, in which the pope reiterated the need to welcome gay people into the Church and the need for caution regarding them becoming seminarians.

After the initial report of his use of the word, Corriere della Sera newspaper quoted unnamed bishops who were in the room as suggesting that the pope, as an Argentine, might not have realised that the Italian term he used was offensive.

Francis, who is 87, had been credited with making substantial overtures towards the LGBT community during his 11-year papacy. Some observers of the Vatican say his recent missteps undermine his authority and raise questions about his convictions and the reform path he has in mind for the Church.