Pope Leo meets LGBTQ2S+ Catholic advocate and vows continuity with Pope Francis’ legacy of welcome

Pope Leo XIV delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV met Monday with one of the most prominent advocates for greater LGBTQ2S+ inclusion in the Catholic Church and encouraged his ministry, sending a strong signal of welcome in the early months of his pontificate.

The Rev. James Martin, a New York-based Jesuit author and editor, said Leo told him he intended to continue Pope Francis’ policy of LGBTQ2S+ 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.”

The meeting, which lasted about a half-hour, was officially announced by the Vatican in a sign that Leo wanted it made public.

It came just days before LGBTQ+ Catholics participate in a Holy Year pilgrimage to the Vatican in another sign of welcome.

The audience was significant because it showed a strong sign of continuity with Francis, who more than any of Leo’s predecessors worked to make the Catholic Church a more welcoming place for LGBTQ2S+ Catholics. 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 advisor 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.”

Leo’s position on LGBTQ2S+ Catholics had been something of a question. Soon after he was elected in May, remarks surfaced from 2012 in which the future pope, then known as the Rev. Robert Prevost, criticized the “homosexual lifestyle” and the role of mass media in promoting acceptance of same-sex relationships that conflicted with Catholic doctrine.

When he became a cardinal in 2023, Catholic News Service asked Prevost if his views had changed. He acknowledged Francis’ call for a more inclusive church, saying Francis “made it very clear that he doesn’t want people to be excluded simply on the basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to dress, or whatever.”

Prevost then underlined that doctrine had not changed.

“But we are looking to be more welcoming and more open and to say all people are welcome in the church,” he said.

News of the audience was met with consternation among some conservatives who had criticized Francis’ outreach and had hoped Leo would be less accepting. Taylor Marshall, a podcaster active on Catholic social media, merely posted the official Vatican photo of the encounter on X. John-Henry Weston, co-founder of the LifeSite news site, called the audience a “nightmare scenario.”

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry which advocates for LGBTQ+ Catholics, said the audience was a great first step. In a statement he called it “a strong indication that Leo affirms Pope Francis’ welcoming model and that previous repressive approaches are now just history.”

Martin, who knew Prevost from their time working together in the synod on the church’s future, said he wasn’t worried about Leo’s views given Martin always had found him to be “a very open, welcoming, inclusive person.”

“But it’s wonderful to hear this continuation,” Martin said, adding that Leo told him his priorities are to work for peace and unity, citing in particular the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Myanmar.

“But he also wanted to remind people that this is a church for ‘todos, todos, totos,’” Martin said, quoting Francis’ famous line in Spanish about how the church is open to everyone, todos.

Martin helped found Outreach, a ministry promoting LGBTQ2S+ acceptance, which will participate in a big Holy Year pilgrimage Friday and Saturday sponsored by Italian LGBTQ2S+ Catholic group “Jonathan’s Tent.” Significantly, the pilgrimage includes a Mass at the Jesuit church in Rome celebrated by the second-highest member of the Italian bishop’s conference.

The pilgrimage is not officially sponsored by the Vatican, but is listed on the Vatican’s calendar of Holy Year events. Vatican officials say such a listing doesn’t signify endorsement, but is merely a logistical help to those groups that wish to organize pilgrimages and walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press