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In July 2013, Pope Francis raised a question that demonstrated fundamental changes in the Catholic Church’s treatment of gay people.
“If a person is gay and has good intentions for God, who will judge him?” he asked a reporter in 2013. “Who do I judge?”
Francis passed away early on Monday the day after Easter, and LGBTQ Catholics and theologians recalled the comments as one of the first Francis to promote the acceptance of queer people. It is a dramatic departure from the way previous figures of the sacred Sea and Church doctrine spoke about homosexuality, describing homosexuality as “essential moral evil” and “objective obstacles,” and the relatively accepted tone continues to become the main theme of Francis’ Pope, and now his complicated legacy.
Francis urges parents not to blame gay children and approves the same-sex union of priestly blessings. But in the eyes of LGBTQ Catholics, “he wasn’t perfect,” said Jason Steidle Jack, a professor of religion at St. Joseph’s University in New York. In a statement shortly after “Who am I going to judge?”, Francis stated that homosexuality is still a sin under Catholic doctrine. He also mentioned gays with slur at least twice, Steidl Jack said, and spoke negatively about what he called “gender ideology.” He also said that same-sex couples’ blessings do not resemble traditional marriage vows.
But what made Francis’ pope historic is that unlike his predecessor, he met with LGBTQ people all over the world and heard their stories.
“He was able to have a conversation with John Paul II that was impossible under Benedict XVI,” he said of the two Popes before Francis. “As his Pope’s year progressed, he seemed more open to both gay and lesbians, and to the trans community. This is a level of openness that could not be thought of before Pope Francis. It was a revolution of compassion, a welcoming revolution, and changed the church’s relationship with the LGBTQ community.”
“He sat down and grabbed our hands.”
Francis’ positive remarks about the LGBTQ community were “earthquake changes” in the treatment of gay and lesbian people, executive director of Digniteusa, advocating for LGBTQ rights within the Catholic Church.
In response to the organization’s advocacy, the Vatican issued the controversial “Letter to the Bishop on the Pastoral Care of Gays” in 1986, resulting in many of the organization’s chapters being expelled from their home parish and banning them from meetings on Catholic property, Duddy-Burke said.
Almost 30 years later, the Vatican is also co-chairing the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics, an international organization of LGBTQ Catholics, to meet Francis at the Synod Parliament in October 2023.
They spoke to him about the importance of his statement earlier that year, calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality around the world, but told him that sentiment should be carried out by Catholic bishops and politicians. They also told him that LGBTQ people are often excluded from the Catholic Church and they discussed the importance of affirming healthcare for transgender people.
“He was very warm, he laughed with us and he made eye contact throughout,” Daddy Burke said. “He sat down and held our hand and hugged one of us.”
At the end of their meeting, Francis said in Italian, “Your work is important. Keep pushing,” Daddy Burke said in tears.
She said there was a massive response to photos and news about the meeting. [of the community] You can see it with the Pope. ”
Michael O’Loughlin, author of “Hidden Mercy: Aids, Catholics, and The Untold Spolly of Achempary of Achempary of Achemplof of Acresome of Hear,” worked behind the scenes to die of an Aid disease, talking about O’Loughlin’s book and talking about conversations between a Catholic nun and a priest who opposed the teachings of the church.
Michael O’Laurin shakes hands with Pope Francis. (Courtesy Michael O’Laurin)
In August 2021, Francis wrote back. The letter was written in Spanish but was translated into English. He thanked O’Laurin for bringing light to priests, religious sisters and those laying who supported people sick with HIV and AIDS.
“Instead of indifference, alienation and even even criticism, these people moved themselves through the mercy of their Father, allowing it to become the work of their lives.
O’Loughlin, executive director of Outreach, an LGBTQ Catholic organization, said: “Some LGBT advocates point out that they may not have gone far enough to what he wanted, but he still created these opportunities to show that we want to live our lives in the church, just like other Catholics.”
Max Kuzma, a lifelong Catholic and transgender advocate, said he was also impressed with Francis’ pastoral presence and compassion when he met the clergy last year. Kuzma said he introduced himself to Frances in Spanish as a transgender man. It was a busy moment, Kuzma said, and he didn’t respond verbally as Francis was being pushed together in his wheelchair.
Max Kuzma meets Pope Francis. (Courtesy Max Kuzma)
“But it was his expression and the way he held my hand,” Kuzma said. “I felt a moment of acceptance and love and support. It felt very idyllic when you looked into the eyes of the Pope.”
An uncertain future
Francis’ acceptance gestures for LGBTQ people set an example to other Catholic church leaders, but Francis said it was unclear how much they would carry to the next Pope, as he fundamentally did not change the doctrine of the church.
“Even when we open up catechism, we explain that homosexuality is inherently disturbed. It is against God’s purpose because of human sexuality, and it is against human prosperity,” Steidle Jack said. He added that after Francis issued a document allowing same-sex couples to bless him, he is likely to face resentment from priests in Africa and some Eastern Europe, fearing that a rapid push on doctrinal change would cause a rift in the church.
Francis’ statements about LGBTQ people are also not entirely positive and often contradictory. For example, at the start of the pandemic, Francis began meeting trans women, many of their sex workers, in the Vatican. In 2023, he said trans people could be baptized and become godparents. However, in March 2024, what he called “gender ideology” was the “most dangerous” of our time.
Kuzma said the statement praised the Catholic bishops’ meeting of President Donald Trump’s presidential order and the ban on trans women and girls from competing in women’s sports, but he said he would strain the future if the next pope is hostile to trans people.
“It’s been disorganized in some of the culture wars,” Kuzma said he was part of it, especially in the more conservative Catholic space.
Still, Kuzma said he believes that if Francis had lived a long life, he would have formed friendships with trans people in the way that he formed a friendship with Juan Carlos Cruz, a survivor of administrative sexual abuse. In 2018, when it came to Cruz’s gay, Francis famously told him, “God made you like this.” In 2021, he appointed Cruz to the Minor Protection Committee. Kuzma said that such friendship likely changed Francis’ heart.
Steidl Jack agreed, saying that one of the main lessons from Francis’ Pontifeion was that he “didn’t get things right all the time” but he was happy to listen.
“He was willing to spend time with people and they were willing to accept it as it is,” Steidl Jack said. “He believes he grew from it, and the church has grown from it. And that’s where the church needs to continue growing. It’s a ministry that listens, an open ministry. It’s a ministry that’s willing to learn.”
This story first appeared on nbcnews.com. More from NBC News:
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