VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV met Monday with one of the vital outstanding advocates for higher 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, mentioned Leo advised 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 need to welcome all individuals, together with LGBTQ individuals,” Martin advised The Related Press after the viewers. “It was fantastic. It was very consoling and really encouraging and albeit plenty of enjoyable.”
The assembly, which lasted a couple of half-hour, was formally introduced by the Vatican in an indication that Leo needed 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 clergymen to bless same-sex {couples}, Francis distinguished himself together 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 large multi-year assembly on the way forward for the church. Nonetheless, Francis by no means modified church instructing saying gay acts are “intrinsically disordered.”
Leo’s place on LGBTQ+ Catholics had been one thing of a query. Quickly after he was elected in Might, remarks surfaced from 2012 during 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’ name for a extra inclusive church, saying Francis “made it very clear that he doesn’t need individuals to be excluded merely on the idea of decisions that they make, whether or not it’s life-style, work, approach 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 persons are welcome within the church,” he mentioned.
Martin, who knew Prevost from their time working collectively within the synod on the church’s future, mentioned he wasn’t apprehensive about Leo’s views given Martin all the time had discovered him to be “a really open, welcoming, inclusive particular person.”
“However it’s fantastic to listen to this continuation,” Martin mentioned, including that Leo advised him his priorities are to work for peace and unity, citing particularly the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Myanmar.
“However he additionally needed to remind those that this can be a church for ‘todos, todos, totos,’” Martin mentioned, quoting Francis’ well-known line in Spanish about how the church is open to everybody, todos.
Martin helped discovered Outreach, a ministry selling 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 individuals features a Mass on the Jesuit church in Rome celebrated by the second-highest member of the Italian bishop’s convention.
The pilgrimage will not be 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 manage pilgrimages and stroll via the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
However the pilgrimage and Martin’s viewers however ship a sign that’s in line with church instructing “that Jesus reaches out to individuals on the margins,” Martin mentioned.
The message he acquired from Leo was “that if individuals had been pleased with Pope Francis’ method to LGBTQ Catholics, they’re going to be pleased with Pope Leo’s method. And he requested me to proceed what I’m doing, which was very encouraging,” Martin mentioned.
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