Pope Leo XIV criticises same-sex blessings and calls queer relationships a ‘choice’ – but insists LGBTQ+ people aren’t ‘bad’
Pope Leo reaffirmed his support for the "traditional family" model, telling Crux, "The family is father, mother, and children"
By Callum Wells
Newly-elected Pope Leo XIV has criticised same-sex blessings and called queer relationships a “choice” – but insisted LGBTQ+ people aren’t “bad”.
In a recent interview with Crux, the 267th pontiff – the first from the United States – said everyone is welcome in the Catholic Church because “they are a son or daughter of God”.
At the same time, he stressed its long-standing view on marriage, stating: “I’ve already spoken about marriage, as did Pope Francis when he was pope, about a family being a man and a woman in solemn commitment, blessed in the sacrament of marriage. But even to say that, I understand some people will take that badly.
“That doesn’t mean those people are bad people” – Pope Leo XIV on members of the queer community
“In Northern Europe they are already publishing rituals of blessing ‘people who love one another’, is the way they express it, which goes specifically against the document that Pope Francis approved, Fiducia Supplicans, which basically says, of course we can bless all people, but it doesn’t look for a way of ritualising some kind of blessing because that’s not what the Church teaches.”
He went on to frame LGBTQ+ relationships as a matter of personal choice, making clear that it’s not something the Church formally recognises.
Pope Leo said: “That doesn’t mean those people are bad people, but I think it’s very important, again, to understand how to accept others who are different than we are, how to accept people who make choices in their life and to respect them,” he said.
He also reaffirmed his support for the nuclear family model, telling the publication, “Families need to be supported, what they call the traditional family. The family is father, mother, and children.”
Before his passing, Pope Francis described being gay as a “human fact”
He made clear that he expects the Church’s teaching on marriage to remain unchanged.
Pope Leo was elected on 8 May following a two-day conclave after the death of Pope Francis in April at the age of 88. Having spent years as a missionary in Peru, he was known to be close to Pope Francis.
Before his passing, Pope Francis described being gay as a “human fact”, making a distinction between blessings for individuals and for unions. He told Italian magazine Credere: “I do not bless a homosexual marriage. I bless two people who care for each other, and I also ask them to pray for me. The blessing is not to be denied to anyone. Everyone, everyone. Mind you, I am talking about those who are capable of receiving baptism.”