In the eyes of many LGBTQ Catholics, the late Pope Francis is heading towards an accepted "earthquake transition." Now, as the world welcomes the newly elected Pope Leo era, these lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders and queer people faithfully say they hope he will continue to move in the same direction.
Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of LGBTQ Catholic advocacy group Dignityusa, was held in Rome on Thursday when Cardinal Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old Chicago native who possesses us and Peruvian citizenship, became the new Pontiff.
She told NBC News in an interview Friday. “I also found a lot of hope in my speech on the balcony…where he talked about God’s all-inclusive love, without any conditions, and he talked about being a church for all God’s people.”
Jason Steidl Jack, a gay Catholic and assistant professor of religious studies at St. Joseph University in New York, described his reaction to the first ever election to lead the Pope Leo in the Vatican, which was "cautiously optimistic."
"I do see him continuing the legacy of Francis, especially the legacy of dialogue and synchronization, especially the legacy of dialogue and synchronization," said Standell Jack, who described synchronization as "the idea of traveling together" and "listening to each other." However, he said the election of the new pope “has not alleviated my concerns as an LGBTQ Catholic.”
“The church’s teaching, even under Pope Francis’ leadership, is still incredibly homosexual, and the church continues to invent new ways to transgender, because it does avoid learning transgender people and their experiences,” he said, adding that given his speech on Thursday, the new church can seem “open to dialogue and inclusiveness”.
Chicago resident Greg Krajewski said he practiced Catholicism all his life and sang in his local parish every Sunday. But, he said, as a gay man, he “carespect for who I talk to and how I introduce myself.”
"There are a few things in his opening speech that really gave me a lot of hope," he said of Leo. "The first thing is that he said a few times, 'God loves us without restrictions or conditions.' I think it's a very big sign that even he himself may have more reservations about LGBTQ issues in the church, and he is also open to these discussions."
Leo has had limited comments on LGBTQ issues in the past, although several LGBTQ Catholics expressed concern about the remarks he made in his address to church leaders a decade ago. At the 2012 Bishops Conference, then-father Prevost lamented the challenges raised by the Catholic Church due to the media’s portrayal of “alternative families.”
According to the Catholic News Agency, he told a group of bishops: "For example, note how alternative families composed of gay couples and their adopted children are portrayed so benign and sympathetic in TV shows and cinemas," he said. "The sympathy for the choice of anti-Christian lifestyle, the parenting staff of the mass media is so brilliantly implanted in the viewing public that when people hear Christian messages, people often inevitably seem to inevitably be ideological and emotional cruelty compared to anti-Christian views."
Francis Debernardo, executive director of the New Methods Department, worked to cultivate LGBTQ inclusion in the Catholic Church, calling the remarks “disappointing.”
"We pray that over the past 13 years, 12 of which are under the pope of Pope Francis, whose heart and mind have gradually evolved on the LGBTQ+ issue, we will take a treatment attitude to see if that happens."
Steidl Jack said Leo seemed to have a "cultural warrior mentality" for same-sex marriage and LGBTQ in pop culture in 2012, but said he hoped the new pope's perspective has changed since then.
“A lot of changes in the world have changed since 2012 — even Pope Francis has changed a lot in the whole character,” he said. “So, I hope Pope Leo has been listening to LGBTQ Catholics all the time. I hope he has been paying attention and growing up like Pope Francis, just like the rest of the world.”
Perceptions on LGBTQ issues have changed dramatically over the past decade, including practicing Catholic perspectives. For example, a 2023-24 religious landscape study by the Pew Research Center found that 19% of adults in the United States are considered Catholic, and found that 70% of Catholics allow same-sex couples to marry, compared with 57% in 2014 higher than 57%.
Michael O'Loughlin, executive director of the LGBTQ Catholic organization Outreach, announced the new pope in Rome. He said the 2012 review was disappointing, but he kept it open.
“I would like to look at his broader message, it’s a message of peace and stand up for marginalization,” he said. “He turned to Spanish to speak to the former community in Peru, and I think he is a good sign for a people.”
After 2012, the future Pope has had few comments on the LGBTQ issue.
When he served as a spokesperson for the Bishops of Chiclayo in Peru in 2017, he seemed to oppose “gender ideology,” a term used by some to refer to trans identity, telling local media that this ideology “attempts to eliminate biological differences between men and women.”
Then, in 2024, a year after Pope Francis formally approved allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples, then-Cardinal Prevost said the subsequent pushback from bishops in Africa highlighted the need to give more doctorrinal authority to local bishops, according to CBCPNews, the news service of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.
“The bishops at the African Bishops’ Conference basically said that in Africa, our entire cultural reality is completely different. … Rather than rejecting the teaching authority in Rome, our cultural status is the application of such a document that the Prevost at the time said. “You have to remember that there are still places in Africa who commit death penalty, for example, for people living in homosexual relationships.”
Asked what she wanted to see from the Leo Pope, Duddy-Burke said she hoped he could provide a “trusted moral voice.”
“The world is so destructive in many places right now – you know, the rise of nationalism, the increased xenophobia, so many wars, these are very vicious wars going on all over the world – I just hope he can be a very clear and trustworthy moral voice in the world, some of which means dealing with inequality and failure within our own church,” she said.
Steidl Jack said he wanted Leo to listen to Catholics with different views.
“One of the gifts from Pope Francis was that he encouraged church leaders to go outside the church and listen to people outside the hierarchy, which is really what Pope Leo needs to do, especially about same-sex relationships and transgender experiences,” he said.
De Bernardo of the New Methods Department said in a statement that he hopes Leo continues to build on Francis.
"Pope Francis opened the door for the new approach of LGBTQ+ people," he said. "Pope Leo now has to guide the church through that door."