VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV met Monday with probably the most distinguished advocates for better LGBTQ+ inclusion within the Catholic Church and inspired his ministry, simply days earlier than a deliberate Holy Yr pilgrimage of LGBTQ+ Catholics to the Vatican in an indication of continued welcome.
The Rev. James Martin, a New York-based Jesuit creator and editor, stated Leo instructed him he meant to proceed Pope Francis’ coverage of LGBTQ+ acceptance within the church and inspired him to maintain up his advocacy.
“I heard the identical message from Pope Leo that I heard from Pope Francis, which is the will to welcome all folks, together with LGBTQ folks,” Martin instructed The Related Press after the viewers. “It was great. It was very consoling and really encouraging and admittedly lots of enjoyable.”
The assembly, which lasted a couple of half-hour, was formally introduced by the Vatican in an indication that Leo wished it made public.
The viewers was vital as a result of it confirmed a robust signal of continuity with Francis, who greater than any of Leo’s predecessors labored to make the Catholic Church a extra welcoming place for LGBTQ+ Catholics. From his 2013 quip, “Who am I to guage?” a couple of purportedly homosexual priest, to his choice to permit monks to bless same-sex couples, Francis distinguished himself along with his message of welcome.
Throughout his 12-year papacy from 2013 to 2025, Francis met on a number of events with Martin and named him an adviser within the Vatican’s communications division and a member of his massive multi-year assembly on the way forward for the church. Nonetheless, Francis by no means modified church educating saying gay acts are “intrinsically disordered.”
Leo’s place on LGBTQ+ Catholics had been something of a question. Quickly after he was elected in Might, remarks surfaced from 2012 through which the longer term pope, then generally known as the Rev. Robert Prevost, criticized the “gay life-style” and the position of mass media in selling acceptance of same-sex relationships that conflicted with Catholic doctrine.
When he turned a cardinal in 2023, Catholic Information Service requested Prevost if his views had modified. He acknowledged Francis’ call for a extra inclusive church, saying Francis “made it very clear that he doesn’t need folks to be excluded merely on the premise of decisions that they make, whether or not it’s life-style, work, solution to gown, or no matter.”
Prevost then underlined that doctrine had not modified.
“However we need to be extra welcoming and extra open and to say all individuals are welcome within the church,” he stated.
Martin, who knew Prevost from their time working collectively within the synod on the church’s future, stated he wasn’t frightened about Leo’s views given Martin at all times had discovered him to be “a really open, welcoming, inclusive individual.”
“However it’s great to listen to this continuation,” Martin stated, including that Leo instructed him his priorities are to work for peace and unity, citing particularly the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Myanmar.
“However he additionally wished to remind people who it is a church for ‘todos, todos, totos,’” Martin stated, quoting Francis’ well-known line in Spanish about how the church is open to everybody, todos.
Martin helped discovered Outreach, a ministry promoting LGBTQ+ acceptance, which can take part in a giant Holy Yr pilgrimage Friday and Saturday sponsored by Italian LGBTQ+ Catholic group “Jonathan’s Tent.” Considerably, the pilgrimage of about 1,200 folks features a Mass on the Jesuit church in Rome celebrated by the second-highest member of the Italian bishop’s convention.
The pilgrimage just isn’t formally sponsored by the Vatican, however is listed on the Vatican’s calendar of Holy Yr occasions. Vatican officers say such an inventory doesn’t signify endorsement, however is merely a logistical assist to these teams that want to arrange pilgrimages and stroll via the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
However the pilgrimage and Martin’s viewers nonetheless ship a sign that’s in keeping with church educating “that Jesus reaches out to folks on the margins,” Martin stated.
The message he obtained from Leo was “that if folks have been proud of Pope Francis’ strategy to LGBTQ Catholics, they’re going to be proud of Pope Leo’s strategy. And he requested me to proceed what I’m doing, which was very encouraging,” Martin stated.
___
Related Press faith protection receives help via the AP’s collaboration with The Dialog US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely answerable for this content material.
