Pope Leo XIV showed he would continue Pope Francis’s policy of welcoming the LGBT community to the Catholic Church.
Leo met with the Rev. James Martin, a priest known for his LGBT advocacy, on Monday, according to the Associated Press. Martin is also known for his book Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter Into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion and Sensitivity. In it, Martin says Catholics foster a relationship with the LGBT community instead of identifying them as “the other” and welcome them to the Catholic community.
Martin expressed optimism after meeting with Leo and was pleased that he was interested in continuing Francis’s outreach efforts with the LGBT community.
“I heard the same message from Pope Leo that I heard from Pope Francis, which is the desire to welcome all people, including LGBTQ people,” Martin told the Associated Press. “It was wonderful. It was very consoling and very encouraging and frankly a lot of fun.”
Martin was named a Vatican adviser during Francis’s papacy and met with him multiple times, according to the Associated Press. He reportedly met with the pope for approximately 30 minutes.
The meeting with Martin and the subsequent decision to follow Francis’s policy of welcoming LGBT members marked a pivotal moment for Leo. Previously, while recognized in the Catholic Church as the Rev. Robert Prevost, he was critical of the “homosexual lifestyle” in comments from 2012, the Associated Press reported. Prevost also condemned popular culture, societal, and media efforts that went against Catholicism and promoted the acceptance of homosexual relationships.
However, his opinions reportedly evolved when he became a cardinal in 2023, echoing Francis’s doctrine regarding LGBT people in the Catholic Church. He supported the pope’s policy of not excluding people and admitted that Francis had influenced his views.
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“Given many things that have changed, I would say there’s been a development in the sense of the need for the church to open and to be welcoming,” then-Cardinal Prevost said, “and on that level, I think Pope Francis made it very clear that he doesn’t want people to be excluded simply on the basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to dress or whatever.”
“Doctrine hasn’t changed, and people haven’t said, yet, you know, we’re looking for that kind of change, but we are looking to be more welcoming and more open, and to say all people are welcome in the church,” he added.
