The Vatican
Pope Francis dies at 88
Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ, intersex issues softened under papacy
Pope Francis died on Monday at his official residence at the Vatican. He was 88.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, said Francis passed away at Casa Santa Marta at 7:35 a.m. local time (1:35 a.m. ET.)
“His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his church,” said Farrell. “He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the one and triune God.”
Francis, a Jesuit who was previously known as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was born in Buenos Aires to Italian immigrant parents in 1936. He became archbishop of the Argentine capital in 1998.
Pope John Paul II in 2001 appointed him cardinal. The College of Cardinals in 2013 elected Francis to succeed Pope Benedict XVI after he resigned.
Francis vehemently opposed Argentina’s marriage equality law that then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signed in 2010. Francis as pope backed civil unions for gays and lesbians and in 2023 said priests can bless same-sex couples.
Francis in 2023 said laws that criminalize homosexuality are “unjust.” He appointed Robert McElroy, an LGBTQ-friendly cardinal from San Diego, as the new archbishop of Washington.
The pontiff in 2015 met with a group of gay, transgender, and HIV-positive prisoners in the Italian city of Naples. A Vatican charity in 2020 gave money to a group of trans sex workers in Italy who were struggling to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Francis last October met with a group of trans and intersex Catholics and LGBTQ allies at the Vatican. GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis and Juan Carlos Cruz, a gay Chilean man who is a clergy sex abuse survivor, are among those who also met with Francis during his papacy.
Church teachings on homosexuality and gender identity, however, did not change.
“From the early months of his papacy when he uttered the now-iconic ‘Who am I to judge?’ in response to a question about accepting gay priests, through numerous affirming pastoral messages to individual LGBTQ+ people, to his support for civil unions, and his condemnation of criminalization laws, Pope Francis has changed the church irreversibly by allowing people to see how their Catholic faith requires acceptance and equality,” said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Mount Rainier, Md., based LGBTQ Catholic advocacy organization, in a statement.
DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke met Francis in 2023.
The group in a statement acknowledged the pontiff’s “legacy on LGBTQ+ issues is complicated,” noting “even with the recognition of so many positive words and actions, church teachings and even some recent Vatican documents remain problematic.” DignityUSA President Meli Barber nevertheless praised Francis.
“We also recognize that Pope Francis has raised awareness of LGBTQ+ issues in our church in truly unprecedented ways,” said Barber. “He spoke about us using our own terms and made a point of being seen meeting with LGBTQ+ people frequently. This sent a message of recognition and inclusion we never experienced from the Vatican before.”
Pope’s legacy is ‘mixed’
Activists in Argentina and around the world also mourned Francis.
“We mourn his death and embrace the people who are suffering today because of his passing,” LGBT Federation of Argentina President María Rachid told the Washington Blade.
Dindi Tan, national president of LGBT Pilipinas in the Philippines, on her Facebook page wrote Francis “was unafraid to challenge age-old dogmas and to ‘rattle’ the cage.” Pedro Julio Serrano, president of the Puerto Rico LGBTQ+ Federation, said Francis was an “ally of equity, humanity and dignity of LGBTQ+ people, not only during his pontificate, but throughout his life.”
Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, in a statement acknowledged Francis’s “more compassionate tone towards sexual minorities” that includes blessings for same-sex couples. Tatchell, nevertheless, pointed out the Vatican under Francis’s papacy continued to oppose marriage equality and trans rights.
“The Catholic Church remains a force for discrimination and suffering,” said Tatchell. “Under his leadership, the Vatican continued to oppose same-sex marriage and trans rights. Catholic bishops lobbied against the decriminalization of homosexuality in many parts of the world. The Vatican still upholds the homophobic edicts of the Catechism, which denounces the sexual expression of same-sex love as a ‘grave depravity’ and ‘intrinsically disordered.’ Francis’s legacy is, therefore, a mixed one — offering some progress but leaving deep-rooted inequalities largely intact.”
Vance met with Francis on Easter Sunday
Francis earlier this year spent more than a month in a Rome hospital after he developed double pneumonia.
He met with Vice President JD Vance at the Vatican on Easter Sunday, hours before his death.
The pope had previously criticized the Trump-Vance administration over its immigration policies.
“I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis,” said Vance on X after the Vatican announced Francis’s death. “My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him.”
I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him.
I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days…
— JD Vance (@JDVance) April 21, 2025
Argentine President Javier Milei, who previously criticized Francis, mourned him in a statement he posted to X. Milei also announced Argentina will observe seven days of mourning.
“It is with profound sorrow that I learned this sad morning that Pope Francis, Jorge Bergoglio, passed away today and is now resting in peace,” said Milei. “Despite differences that seem minor today, having been able to know him in his goodness and wisdom was a true honor for me.”
“As president, as an Argentine, and, fundamentally, as a man of faith, I bid farewell to the Holy Father and stand with all of us who meet today with this sad news,” he added.
ADIÓS
Con profundo dolor me entero esta triste mañana que el Papa Francisco, Jorge Bergoglio, falleció hoy y ya se encuentra descansando en paz. A pesar de diferencias que hoy resultan menores, haber podido conocerlo en su bondad y sabiduría fue un verdadero honor para mí.… pic.twitter.com/3dPPFoNWBr— Javier Milei (@JMilei) April 21, 2025
The Vatican
Gay D.C. couple participates in LGBTQ pilgrimage to Vatican
Jim Sweeney and Jason Carson Wilson were among 1,200 pilgrims
A gay couple from D.C. took part in an LGBTQ pilgrimage to the Vatican on Saturday.
Jim Sweeney and his husband, the Rev. Jason Carson Wilson, were two of the more than 1,200 people who participated in the pilgrimage that took place during the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee.
The pilgrims entered St. Peter’s Basilica through its Holy Door, which CNN notes symbolizes forgiveness and reconciliation. (The year-long Jubilee began on Christmas Eve when then-Pope Francis opened the Holy Door.)
The pilgrims on Sept. 5 attended a Mass that took place at Rome’s Church of the Gesù.
DignityUSA in a press release notes the pilgrimage is the first-ever LGBTQ pilgrimage the Vatican has recognized.
“We’re really, really excited,” Sweeney, a member of Dignity Washington, told the Washington Blade during a telephone interview from Rome. “This is a first.”
Wilson, a former journalist and founding executive director of the Bayard Rustin Liberation Institute who is an ordained United Church of Christ minister, echoed his husband.
“To be here in Rome, the cradle of Catholicism, is just an amazing experience,” Wilson told the Blade.
DignityUSA President Meli Barber described the pilgrimage as “truly historic, even miraculous.”
“Many of us could not have imagined that LGBTQ+ Catholics, who have too often been unwelcome in our own church, will have a chance to walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, and to pray together there as part of a Holy Year event,” said Barber. “We carry the hope that this is another milepost along the path to full inclusion in our church, the church we have always been part of. We are filled with joy and pride for everyone who will be representing us all.”
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based organization that ministers to LGBTQ Catholics, also took part in the pilgrimage.
“It’s a great and historic honor to be part of this pilgrimage,” said DeBernardo in a press release. “The fact that the Vatican is welcoming this pilgrimage shows how much the church has grown in regard to accepting LGBTQ+ people.”
The pilgrimage took place less than four months after Pope Leo XIV became pope.
The American-born pontiff succeeded Francis, who died on April 21.
The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under Francis’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change. Leo as pope has reaffirmed Vatican doctrine that says marriage is between a man and a woman, but he will continue to allow priests to bless same-sex couples. The American-born pontiff on Sept. 1 met with the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest who founded Outreach, a ministry for LGBTQ Catholics.
“Let me address what many people want to know: Pope Leo’s approach to LGBTQ Catholic ministry,” said Martin in a message posted to Outreach’s website. “The message I received from him, loud and clear, was that he wanted to continue with the same approach that Pope Francis had advanced, which was one of openness and welcome. So, it was very much a hopeful message of continuity.”
Sweeney said he expects Leo will continue Francis’s legacy of welcoming LGBTQ Catholics into the church. Wilson added he is “cautiously optimistic.”
“I just really am glad to see that we’re in the space, that we’re going to have this pilgrimage, and that LGBT people are going to be allowed to walk through the Holy Door, signifying that we are holy, that we are holy enough to walk through that door,” Wilson told the Blade.
Congress
Co-founder of anti-LGBTQ Catholic group confirmed as next Vatican ambassador
Brian Burch criticized Pope Francis over same-sex couples blessings
The U.S. Senate on Saturday confirmed the co-founder of an anti-LGBTQ Catholic group to become the next U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.
Senators confirmed former CatholicVote President Brian Burch by a 49-44 vote margin.
President Donald Trump late last year nominated Burch for the ambassadorship.
The Vatican’s tone towards LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under Pope Francis’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality and gender identity did not change.
Burch sharply criticized the Argentine-born pontiff’s 2023 decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples.
Francis died in April.
Pope Leo XIV in May reaffirmed Vatican doctrine that says marriage is between a man and a woman. The American-born pontiff, however, has said priests can continue to bless same-sex couples.
A Dec. 5, 2024, post on Catholic Vote’s website on the U.S. v. Skrmetti case notes the justices heard oral arguments on “whether Tennessee can protect children from puberty blockers, which chemically sterilize, and sexual surgeries that mutilate and castrate.” A second CatholicVotes post notes the justices grilled the Justice Department “on challenge to Tennessee protections for children against ‘transgender’ mutilations and sterilizations.”
The U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld the Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming health care for minors.
“I am profoundly grateful to President Trump and the U.S. Senate for this opportunity to serve as the next U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See,” said Burch in a statement CatholicVote released on Saturday. “I have the honor and privilege of serving in this role following the historic selection of the first American pope. In a remarkable coincidence, or what I prefer to attribute to Providence, Pope Leo XIV is from Chicago, which is also my hometown.”
“The relationship between the Holy See and the United States remains one of the most unique in the world, with the global reach and moral witness of the Catholic Church serving as a critical component of U.S. efforts to bring about peace and prosperity,” he added. “As a proud Catholic American, I look forward to representing President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Secretary Rubio in this important diplomatic post. I ask for the prayers of all Americans, especially my fellow Catholics, that I may serve honorably and faithfully in the noble adventure ahead.”
The Vatican
Pope Leo XIV: Family based on ‘stable union between a man and a woman’
American-born pontiff met with Vatican diplomats on May 15
Pope Leo XIV on May 15 reaffirmed Vatican doctrine that says marriage is between a man and a woman.
The Associated Press reported Leo told Vatican diplomats the family is created upon the “stable union between a man and a woman.” Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and dozens of other world leaders on Sunday attended the American-born pontiff’s installation Mass that took place in St. Peter’s Square.
The College of Cardinals earlier this month elected Leo to succeed Pope Francis, who died on April 21.
Francis, who was from Argentina, was a vocal opponent of the country’s marriage equality law that took effect in 2010. He was the archbishop of Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, when then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signed it.
Francis in 2020 publicly backed civil unions for gays and lesbians. Francis in 2023 said priests can bless same-sex couples.
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