BY: DM
Published 4 hours ago
There is a new Pope in town, which means a new era for the Catholic Church. In his first address as Pope, Leo XIV emphasized openness and compassion, leaving questions about his stance on the LGBTQIA+ community.
“Together, we must try to find out how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, establishes dialogue, that’s always open to receive — like on this piazza with open arms — to be able to receive everybody that needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love,” Leo said, per ABC.
Leo XIV strikes a hopeful tone that mirrors Pope Francis’ inclusive spirit, but his track record and early remarks show a more cautious approach to LGBTQIA+ issues. He tries to blend calls for pastoral care with a firm commitment to tradition — a stance that has left some folks side-eyeing him.
Leo XIV’s past statements raise concerns.
In a 2012 speech to a worldwide meeting of bishops, then-Father Prevost described what he saw as Western media’s “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel.” According to The New York Times, Leo explicitly cited the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”
As a missionary bishop in Peru, Prevost also resisted efforts to include gender identity topics in school curricula. He warned that “the promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist.” These remarks, made under the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI, suggest a firm traditional view on sexuality and gender. They have resurfaced now and raised alarm among LGBTQIA+ Catholics who worry Leo XIV could roll back the more inclusive vibes set by Pope Francis.
Pope Francis advocated for LGBTQIA+ inclusion.
Pope Francis was widely seen as a progressive force on LGBTQIA+ inclusion. “We cannot be judges who only deny, push back, and exclude,” Francis wrote per TIME. “As such, pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or several people, that do not convey a wrong idea of a matrimony. Because when one seeks a blessing, one is requesting help from God.”
Meanwhile, Leo XIV takes an old school approach to the Church doctrine and queer inclusion. Before becoming pope, Cardinal Prevost often struck a cautious tone. In October 2024, he acknowledged Francis’ efforts to welcome LGBTQIA+ Catholics but urged global bishops to engage in deeper dialogue. He argued that each country’s bishops should determine how to minister to gay couples in ways that align with their local cultural and legal contexts.“You have to remember there are still places in Africa that apply the death penalty, for example, for people who are living in a homosexual relationship,” Prevost said per CBCP News. “So, we’re in very different worlds.”
And while Leo XIV has voiced compassion toward LGBTQIA+ individuals, he has not indicated any intent to change Church doctrine on sexuality. Church law still defines marriage strictly as between a man and a woman, and the new pope has affirmed traditional views on that point.
Do you think Pope Leo XIV’s call for “building bridges” includes LGBTQIA+ folks — or is that just lip service?
