The election of Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, as the first American pope in the history of the Catholic Church has sparked both hope and cautious optimism among LGBTQ Catholics worldwide. Prevost, a 69 year old Chicago native who served as a missionary in Peru and led the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, took the name of a pope associated with social justice offering symbolic encouragement to marginalized groups.
LGBTQ advocacy groups like DignityUSA and New Ways Ministry praised the inclusive tone of Leo’s first address, where he emphasized “God’s love without limits or conditions” and spoke of building “a church for all of God’s people.” Many viewed his words as a continuation of Pope Francis’ legacy of dialogue and openness.
“He’s sending a signal to a hurting world,” said Marianne Duddy-Burke of DignityUSA, who was in Rome for the announcement. Jason Steidl Jack, a gay Catholic professor, called his remarks “cautiously optimistic” but added that fears remain due to the Church’s longstanding stances on LGBTQ issues.
Concerns persist over Prevost’s past comments. In 2012, he criticized sympathetic media portrayals of “alternative families,” and in 2017, he warned against “gender ideology” while serving in Peru. However, some LGBTQ leaders hope that, like Francis, Leo’s perspective has evolved over the past decade.
Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry urged a wait-and-see approach: “Pope Francis opened the door. Pope Leo must now guide the Church through that door.” Others echoed this sentiment, hoping Leo XIV will become a “trusted moral voice” in a world grappling with injustice, division, and exclusion.