Vatican softens stance on LGBTQ+ Catholics

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican is sending new signals about how it intends to serve LGBTQ+ Catholics in the era of Pope Leo XIV, with signs of openings and restrictions following the warm welcome Pope Francis received during his 12-year pontificate.Catholic LGBTQ+ advocates cheered this week after a Vatican working group released a report that included testimonies from two gay married Catholics who spoke about their sexual orientation, faith and how the church’s negative teachings hurt them. Leo made it clear in a recent press conference that he believes the Church’s teachings on social justice, equality and freedom are far more important than its teachings on sexual morality.However, at the same meeting, Leo said he would not go further than Francis on the controversial issue of same-sex blessings. The Vatican recently once again opposed any deviation from the position of the Holy See. “If the Catholic Church has begun to listen to LGBTQ Catholics and make it part of its approach, then the Church has made significant progress,” said the Rev James Martin, a Jesuit priest who leads the church’s outreach to LGBTQ+ Americans.But the signals prompted criticism from conservatives, who highlighted official Catholic teaching that homosexuality is “intrinsically disordered.”The Vatican working group’s report summarizes the work of experts examining controversial topics that have emerged from Francis’ years of reform efforts. The report is non-binding.The testimony, included in an annex published on the Vatican’s synod’s website, recounts how a man sometimes struggled with his faith due to insensitive comments and “conversion therapy” from a Catholic spiritual director. Another testimony from an American said: “My sexual orientation is not a perversion, a disorder, or a cross; it is a gift from God.”