Pope Leo offered his most comprehensive thoughts on how he will approach the pastoral outreach to LGBTQ Catholics, saying that “everyone’s invited in” to the church, but adding that it is “highly unlikely, certainly in the near future, that the church’s doctrine” on sexuality will change.
Speaking to Vatican reporter Elise Allen for her new book about Leo, a portion of which was published today on the Catholic news site Crux, Leo suggested that he would try to seek unity in the church rather than focus on “polarizing” issues.
“I confess, that’s on the back of my mind, because, as we’ve seen at the synod, any issue dealing with the LGBTQ questions is highly polarizing within the church,” Leo said. “For now, because of what I’ve already tried to demonstrate and live out in terms of my understanding of being pope at this time in history, I’m trying not to continue to polarize or promote polarization in the church.” (This is likely the first time that a pope has used the term “LGBT” or “LGBTQ”, a term that was the source of controversy at the Synod.)
While Leo said he does not “have a plan at the moment” in terms of his pastoral outreach to LGBTQ Catholics, he said he is trying to follow the lead of Pope Francis, whose welcoming comments and gestures were widely praised by LGBTQ Catholics.
“What I’m trying to say is what Francis said very clearly when he would say, ‘todos, todos, todos,’” Leo said, referring to his predecessor’s insistence that the church welcome all people. “Everyone’s invited in, but I don’t invite a person in because they are or are not of any specific identity. I invite a person in because they are a son or daughter of God. You’re all welcome, and let’s get to know one another and respect one another.”
Some LGBTQ Catholics had hoped Francis would have done more to change church teaching to make the church more inclusive. For his part, Leo said a change in hearts would have to come first.
“People want the church doctrine to change, want attitudes to change,” Leo said. “I think we have to change attitudes before we even think about changing what the church says about any given question.”
Leo has not weighed in explicitly on LGBTQ issues since his election in May, though he has signaled that he would seek to continue the welcoming tone set by Francis. Earlier this month, he met for 30 minutes with Outreach founder James Martin, S.J. Bishop Francesco Savino, a vice president of the Italian bishops conference, said during a homily at a Mass for LBGTQ Catholic pilgrims that Leo had encouraged him to celebrate the Mass.
While Leo affirmed traditional teaching on marriage and sexuality in his interview with Ms. Allen, he left the door open to changes in the future.
The pope added, “I find it highly unlikely, certainly in the near future, that the church’s doctrine in terms of what the church teaches about sexuality, what the Church teaches about marriage” will change.
Still, Leo said, “individuals will be accepted and received. Any priest who has ever heard confessions will have heard confessions from all kinds of people with all kinds of issues, all kinds of states of life and choices that are made.”
Speaking to Crux, Outreach founder James Martin, S.J., said that he found Pope Leo’s words “very hopeful” and in line with Pope Francis.
“My sense (and this was my sense from meeting him a few weeks ago) is that Pope Leo’s approach to LGBTQ Catholics is a continuation of Pope Francis’s approach, which is all to the good,” Father Martin said, adding that Leo’s use of the term “LGBTQ” is “a step forward.”
The pope took aim in the interview at how some Catholic leaders are implementing “Fiducia Supplicans,” the controversial document Pope Francis released in 2023 that allows priests to bless same-sex couples.
Earlier this year, the German Bishops Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics published a pamphlet with guidelines for pastoral workers who are approached for blessings from a range of people, including same-sex couples. The publication of the pamphlet led to a debate among German bishops about whether it goes beyond what Pope Francis intended with the publication of Fiducia, which stipulates that blessings for same-sex couples should be spontaneous and not ritualized.
Pope Leo did not specifically mention the debate in Germany, but he said that the creation of a ritual text for such scenarios “goes specifically against the document that Pope Francis approved.”
“That doesn’t mean those people are bad people, but I think it’s very important, again, to understand how to accept others who are different than we are, how to accept people who make choices in their life and to respect them,” Leo said.
Pope Leo also called for greater respect for the traditional understanding of family.
“Families need to be supported, what they call the traditional family,” Leo said. “The family is father, mother, and children. I think that the role of the family in society, which has at times suffered in recent decades, once again has to be recognized, strengthened.”
Ms. Allen’s book, Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the 21st Century, published in Spanish on Sept. 18, will be available in English in early 2026.
