Pope Leo XIV offered more insight into where he stands on LGBT issues, telling reporters on his flight back to Rome from Equatorial Guinea that he plans to emphasize “issues of justice, equality and freedom” rather than “sexual matters.”
A reporter asked Leo, who spent the last 11 days touring North and Central Africa, his thoughts about the decision of Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich-Freising to issue in his diocese a guide for blessings of people in relationships outside of sacramental marriage, which includes same-sex couples.
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In a book-length interview made public last year, Leo said that LGBT issues had been “on the back of my mind,” as he wanted to promote issues that were less polarizing.
“For now, because of what I’ve already tried to demonstrate and live out in terms of my understanding of being pope at this time in history, I’m trying not to continue to polarize or promote polarization in the church,” he told Crux journalist Elise Ann Allen.
Last September, Jesuit Fr. James Martin, who founded the LGBT Catholic ministry Outreach, said that during a roughly 30-minute meeting with Leo, the pope expressed “openness and welcome” to LGBT Catholics.
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