Martin noted that although Leo is currently prioritizing “his fervent desire to help the process of peace and unity in places like Ukraine, Gaza, and Myanmar,” when it comes to addressing LGBTQ+ Catholics, “my overall sense is that he ‘gets it’ and that he is ready to continue Francis’s legacy of openness.”

Since ascending to the papacy in May, the Pope has emerged as a successor to Francis’ legacy as a progressive Catholic leader. In July, Vatican officials announced that the Catholic Church will continue to allow blessings for same-sex couples (which are not equivalent to marriage rites), a precedent set by Francis. In October, Leo will also receive representatives from the pro-LGBTQ+ Catholic group We Are Church for the first time.

However, like his predecessor, the Pope’s reluctance to fully embrace LGBTQ+ reforms demonstrates how, in the Catholic Church, progressiveness can still be relative. During his first meeting with the Vatican diplomatic corps in May, Leo declared that “harmonious and peaceful civil societies” should be built by “investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman.”

Back in 2012, prior to becoming pope, Leo criticized Western media for cultivating “sympathy” for the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprising same-sex families and their adopted children” while speaking at the Synod on the New Evangelization.

Yet when the Catholic News Service asked him in 2023 whether his views on LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Catholic Church had changed due to Francis’ leadership, he said that “there’s been a development in the sense of the need for the church to be open and be welcoming.”

“I think Pope Francis has 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,” Leo continued. “Doctrine hasn’t changed, and people haven’t said yet, ‘We’re looking for that kind of change.’ But we are looking to be more welcoming and open, and to say, ‘All people are welcome in the church.’”

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