Pope Leo XIV met with the Rev. James Martin and encouraged his ministry and advocacy for greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Catholic Church. The meeting lasted about a half-hour and was publicly announced by the Vatican. Leo expressed an intention to continue Pope Francis' policy of LGBTQ+ acceptance and offered encouragement for ongoing outreach. A planned Holy Year pilgrimage of LGBTQ+ Catholics to the Vatican was imminent. Pope Francis previously promoted a message of welcome, from his "Who am I to judge?" remark to allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, while maintaining church teaching that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. Remarks from 2012 resurfaced showing earlier criticisms by the future pope.
The Rev. James Martin, a New York-based Jesuit author and editor, said Leo told him he intended to continue Pope Francis' policy of LGBTQ+ acceptance in the church and encouraged him to keep up his advocacy. 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 after the audience. It was wonderful. It was very consoling and very encouraging and frankly a lot of fun.
From his 2013 quip, Who am I to judge? about a purportedly gay priest, to his decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples, Francis distinguished himself with his message of welcome. During his 12-year papacy from 2013 to 2025, Francis met on several occasions with Martin and named him an adviser in the Vatican's communications department and a member of his big multi-year meeting on the future of the church. Still, Francis never changed church teaching saying homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.
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