‘Western mass media is awfully effective in fostering inside most of the people enormous sympathy for beliefs and practices which might be at odds with the Gospel – for instance abortion, homosexual lifestyle, euthanasia.’
These comments by the brand new Pope, Leo XIV, made 13 years ago, were unearthed shortly after it was confirmed that he would lead the 1.4billion Catholics in every corner of the world.
Leo, until yesterday generally known as the 69-year-old Robert Francis Prevost, becomes the world’s first US Pope, having been born in Chicago and spending much of his profession in South America, where he became a dual citizen of his home nation and Peru.
His elevation to the papacy, becoming the 267th man to occupy the throne of St Peter, was greeted with cheers and chants of ‘Long Live the Pope’ in Rome late yesterday afternoon.
But as a gay catholic man, having somewhat rediscovered his faith and felt more welcome under Leo’s predecessor, Francis, I find these comments concerning.
For one, since the comments dismiss LGBT+ people as making a life-style selection, but mainly due to what number of who returned to the Catholic fold under Pope Francis may now, again, feel ostracised.
I used to be born to Roman Catholic, Irish parents within the 80’s; baptised as a baby, took first holy Communion on the age of seven (like so many Catholics, the image from that day of me smiling sweetly with rosary beads in my hands continues to be on display within the family home) and attended a strict Catholic school till the age of 16.
It was after I began to turn out to be sexually aware, that I realised my existence was at odds with the strict teachings of what I used to be being taught at college which insisted, at every turn, that only relationships between a person and a lady were accepted in our community.
Join Metro’s LGBTQ+ community on WhatsApp
With hundreds of members from everywhere in the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel is a hub for all the most recent news and essential issues that face the LGBTQ+ community.
Simply click on this link, select ‘Join Chat’ and also you’re in! Remember to activate notifications!
I drifted away from the church naturally in my 20s, as many young people do.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to an online
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Not because I wasn’t fully connected to it anymore – I strongly consider that when you’re a Catholic, you’re at all times a Catholic. You don’t lose that identity even for those who engage with the Church and your faith less and fewer.
Throughout my 20s, I’d attend Mass at Christmas and Easter sometimes with my still churchgoing family, out of respect for them.
But my heart was now not in it. I became lapsed.
And after the death of the favored Pope John Paul II in 2005, he was replaced by Benedict XVI.
Throughout the latter’s papacy (he made plenty of interventions against gay marriage and was seen as a strict conservative on LGBT issues) I even went through a period of being vocally against the church of the day.
When Francis became Pope in 2013, following Benedict’s resignation, I wasn’t immediately beguiled, mainly because I’d turn out to be embittered.
But because the years passed and I saw his natural compassion shine through, particularly for the marginalised, I slowly began to warm to the church again, because the pontiff began to evangelise less about what he was against, but about accepting others.
Frankly, as a gay man, Francis was the one Pope in my lifetime that I connected with.
He approved blessings for same-sex couples in 2023. And in an interview shortly after his elevation as Bishop of Rome, he said: ‘We now have to search out a method to help that father or that mother to face by their [LGBTQ+] son or daughter.’
He also spoke out relentlessly in concerning the plight of those suffering in Gaza through the final months of his life.
Pope Francis’ thoughtfulness for the marginalised continued right till the top of his life, as per his wishes, a gaggle of transgender people were amongst those chosen to form an honor guard on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica to supply the ultimate farewell at his funeral.
Now, Leo’s past comments and lukewarm support for LGBTQ+ Catholics are disappointing and a shot to the center because after distancing myself from the church during Benedict’s ultra-conservative papacy, I felt welcomed back with Francis on the helm.
Personally, I might have preferred a more progressive recent Pope like Cardinal Tagle or Cardinal Zuppi who’re each pro-LGBTQ rights.
Each of those cardinals gained huge support online amongst younger people in recent weeks. Something I’ve never witnessed before. Stan culture for cardinals and the memeification of the conclave.
Pope Leo is, by all accounts, a moderate. Perhaps the conclave thought a moderate can be a unifier in these turbulent times. Time will tell.
Nonetheless, I’m willing to present him the good thing about the doubt in the interim, and I feel others should too.
Francis and Pope Leo were seemingly close, and in agreement on plenty of major issues.
Hopefully, that would indicate a continuation of Francis’s relatively progressive approach which brought many lapsed LGBTQ+ Catholics like myself tentatively back to the church due to his willingness to just accept all people.
Leo’s comments have been rightly condemned,but they were made greater than a decade ago and while they’re troubling, I’m hoping his views have modified, particularly given his close friendship with Francis in recent times.
Like Francis, I’m hopeful that Leo will turn out to be more liberal on social issues. If not, sadly, that shall be a dealbreaker for me and I imagine for a lot of other LGBTQ+ Catholics.
The Church has done great work in welcoming people like me, they usually shouldn’t risk pushing us away again.
We’re all God’s children in any case.
Do you’ve got a story you’d wish to share? Get in contact by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk.
Share your views within the comments below.
MORE: I offered him oral – I can’t get my head round his response
MORE: Pope Leo ‘looked the opposite way’ when confronted with child sex abuse allegations
MORE: I assumed Molly-Mae Hague was self-absorbed – her documentary modified my mind
