Pope Leo XIV just says no to marriage equality

Pope Leo XIV has begun his papacy by affirming that the family is “founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman,” the Associated Press reports.

The new pope made the remark Friday during a private meeting with the Vatican diplomatic corps. A transcript was released to the media.

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While his immediate predecessor, the late Pope Francis, was friendlier to the LGBTQ+ community than other popes, Francis did not change Roman Catholic doctrine on marriage and adhered to the traditional definition of families. He did announce in late 2023 that the church would allow the blessing of same-sex couples but said these ceremonies should not resemble weddings. He also said the blessings were for the people in the relationship, not the relationship itself.

Pope Leo, then Cardinal Robert Prevost, “did not fully endorse nor reject” the concept, according to a College of Cardinals report.

Allowing the blessings was one of several pro-LGBTQ+ reforms Francis made during his papacy. But the new pope has made some anti-LGBTQ+ statements. In 2012, at a meeting of bishops, “he lamented that Western news media and popular culture fostered ‘sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel,’” The New York Times reports. He specifically mentioned the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.” As bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, he objected to a plan to teach about gender in schools, saying, “The promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist.”

However, “he has voiced compassion for the LGBTQ community,” according to the Meidas Touch Network. But “while he may foster a more welcoming environment, he has not signaled any openness to changing Church teaching on same-sex marriage or the ordination of women,” Meidas Touch reports, something further made clear in the meeting with the diplomatic corps.

But "during Francis’ pontificate, he acknowledged Francis’ call for a more inclusive church, and said he didn’t want people excluded just on the basis of their lifestyle," the AP reports.

In Friday's meeting with the diplomats, Pope Leo affirmed the church's opposition to abortion, saying, "No one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike.” He has differed strongly with the Trump administration's anti-immigrant stances.