Gio Benitez, Openly Gay ABC Anchor, Joins the Catholic Church

After 25 years away, the openly gay TV anchor found his way back to church. He credits Pope Francis’s inclusive legacy — carried on by Pope Leo XIV — and the outreach of Fr. James Martin for guidance.

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Gio Benitez, a familiar face on ABC’s Good Morning America, just took a very personal leap of faith.

The 38-year-old journalist — openly gay and married — received the sacrament of Confirmation at Manhattan’s Church of St. Paul the Apostle, famously known for its LGBTQ ministry. It marked Gio’s return to the faith after a 25-year absence.

I watched a video of the intimate Mass, which featured his friend, the incredibly talented Alison McCartan singing the hymn, How Beautiful.

As the music swelled, Gio stood at the altar with tears in his eyes. I was deeply moved by the sight of a man coming home to a faith he once thought had no room for him.

On social media, Gio explained that his journey back began earlier this year with an unexpected spark.

“Six months ago, the death of a humble pope unexpectedly took me on a journey that was a lifetime in the making,” he wrote.

He saw Jesuit Fr. James Martin on GMA discussing the late Pope Francis’s legacy of inclusivity.

“His words struck me. It was the first time I had seen a Catholic priest speaking in such a beautiful way about LGBTQ people,” Gio recalled.

At 15, he had been baptized a Christian alongside his mother, but drifted away in part because he wondered, “If God created me, how could He not love me?”

That nagging question lingered for decades.

This spring, Gio mustered the courage to walk through the doors of St. Paul’s in Midtown. There, a Paulist priest, Fr. Eric Andrews, greeted him with a simple but profound homily on Jesus’s commandment: Love. One. Another.

“When we’re able to love and love freely and openly — and love ourselves as well — we are a long way down the road to fulfilling the Kingdom of God,” the priest preached.

In that moment, Gio felt something shift. All the theological studies and searching he’d done in college suddenly met a living reality of welcome.

“It turns out proof of God’s love wasn’t in books or lectures. That divine love was in me all along, gently reaching out with arms wide open,” he reflected.

Like the Creation of Adam painted on the Sistine ceiling, Gio said he sensed God patiently waiting for him to reach back.

Gio’s Confirmation Mass was a small gathering of family and close friends who had quietly supported him on this journey.

In his mind, however, the empty pews were full. He imagined a “cloud of witnesses” present: the grandparents who taught him to pray, the relatives and friends lost too soon, “praying for me behind an invisible veil,” he said.

The ceremony itself was simple but beautiful.

As the pianist poured his heart into How Beautiful, a soloist’s voice soared — allowing everyone present “to hear what an angel sounds like,” as Gio described it.

At the moment of anointing, Gio beamed with joy. His husband, Tommy DiDario, stood beside him as his sponsor, symbolizing the loving support that had never wavered

After communion, Gio offered heartfelt thanks.

“My deepest gratitude to Fr. Eric Andrews, Fr. James Martin, Fr. Paul Rospond, and Fr. Chris Lawton for showing me that God’s loving mercy is unconditional,” he wrote, naming the pastors and mentors who helped guide him.

That line — “God’s loving mercy is unconditional” — feels especially poignant.

@giobenitez

Gio Benitez on Instagram: "Six months ago, the death of a humbl…

It’s a truth that many LGBTQ Catholics have long yearned to hear. For years, Fr. Martin has been one of the few church voices saying it openly. And while some of his loudest critics continue to spew condemnations, Gio’s story is living proof that Martin’s ministry is bearing fruit.

An approach of genuine welcome is not “watering down” the faith — it’s evangelizing in the most Christ-like way.

In Rome, the highest levels of the Church are beginning to reflect this open-armed approach.

In September, Pope Leo XIV — Pope Francis’s successor — held a private audience with Fr. Martin, signaling strong support for a more inclusive Catholicism.

Martin came away “very consoling and very encouraging,” saying he heard “the same message from Pope Leo that [he] heard from Pope Francis about welcoming LGBTQ people.”

And in an historic first, the Vatican under Pope Leo even approved an LGBTQ Catholic pilgrimage through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica during next year’s Jubilee celebrations.

In other words, the Church is slowly, but surely, opening its doors wider.

Watching Gio Benitez stand at the altar, I was reminded of why this inclusive shift matters so deeply. Here was a man who once doubted his place in the Church, now stepping forward to profess the Creed with confidence and peace.

No one demanded he hide or change who he is; instead, he was embraced as he is.

In Gio’s own words, “I found the Ark of the Covenant in my heart, stored there by the One who created me… exactly as I am.”

After a long and winding journey, a son came home — not to judgment, but to love.

And how beautiful is that?

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