Robert Francis Prevost has been selected as the new pope, making him the first American to lead the Catholic Church. While his election represents a new era for the papacy in some ways, his sparse public comments on LGBTQ+ rights reveal a less promising future for queer Catholics.
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On Thursday May 8, the Vatican’s two-day conclave came to an end with the election of Prevost, who has chosen the name Pope Leo XIV. Prevost, 69, was born in Chicago. He spent two decades in Peru, eventually becoming the Bishop of Chiclayo and earning dual citizenship between the two countries.
It’s very likely his transcending of borders made him a serious contender for the papacy despite his US heritage, towards which the Vatican has typically shown reticence. But in some ways, the new pope seems less willing to cross doctrinal lines.
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According to the New York Times, Prevost gave an address to fellow bishops in 2012 in which he complained about Western media and popular culture encouraging “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel.” Specifically, he referenced the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”
While serving as Bishop of Chiclayo between 2015 and 2023, he publicly opposed the Peruvian government’s plan to include gender instruction in schools. “The promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist,” he said at the time.
During his twelve years in the Vatican, former Pope Francis inched the Catholic Church towards LGBTQ+ inclusion. He supported the decriminalization of homosexuality and called on the Church to welcome LGBTQ+ people and children. While he opposed equal marriage rights, he supported civil unions and blessed same-sex couples.
His support was something of a mixed bag. He opposed gay clergy members and repeatedly spread misinformation on gender affirming care for minors and what he called “gender theory.” In some ways he grew over time, in some ways he backslid—referring to gay clergymen by the (Italian) f-slur as late as last year. However, even small signs of acceptance from the Vatican can have major resonance throughout the Catholic Church.
While Prevost has made his views known in his few comments on queer rights, he has also previously said that his role is not to be “a little prince sitting in his kingdom.” He elaborated that a church leader is “called authentically to be humble, to be close to the people he serves, to walk with them, to suffer with them.” We’ll be watching to see if he stands by those words in regards to LGBTQ+ people he serves.
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