Pope Leo Meets Top LGBT Advocate Fr. James Martin at the Vatican
Early in his pontificate, Leo signals continuity with Francis’s inclusive outreach to the LGBT community.
Pope Leo XIV met today with Father James Martin, the American Jesuit widely recognized as the Catholic Church’s most visible advocate for LGBT Catholics.
The meeting adds fresh evidence that Leo intends to carry forward the legacy of Pope Francis in opening the Church’s doors more widely to those who have long been on its margins.
Father Martin, author of Building a Bridge and a regular voice on pastoral outreach to LGBT people, has become a symbol of dialogue and inclusion.
Under Francis, Martin was appointed a consultor to the Vatican’s communications office and was received by the pope in multiple audiences.
By welcoming Martin so early in his papacy, Leo signals that this outreach is not an aberration of the Francis era, but part of the ongoing direction of the Catholic Church.
In July, Leo’s prefect for the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed that the new pope would continue Francis’s policy of allowing priests to bless couples in same-sex relationships.
Though controversial, that policy was framed as pastoral accompaniment, not doctrinal change.
Today’s meeting underscores that Leo is committed to sustaining this more open posture.
The symbolism is unmistakable.
In an era where many Catholics wrestle with questions of identity, belonging, and faith, the pope’s choice to meet Martin communicates that LGBT Catholics are not outsiders to be managed but members of the flock to be welcomed.
For Leo, continuity with Francis means upholding mercy as a central pillar of the Church’s witness.
His meeting with Martin makes clear that dialogue with LGBT Catholics is not only permitted, but encouraged — a sign that the Church under Leo XIV will remain on the path of inclusion.
Letters from Leo exists for moments like this — stories that carry the pope’s public witness into the urgent debates shaping our everyday life.
Today, that means highlighting Pope Leo’s meeting with Father James Martin — a sign that his papacy will continue Francis’s legacy of dialogue and welcome for LGBT Catholics, and a reminder that mercy and inclusion are not sidelines but central to the Church’s mission.
Our work here is to keep that witness alive after the headlines fade: to tell the story clearly, to track the policy shifts that matter, and to follow how the Church under Leo XIV walks with people too often pushed to the margins.
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LGBT people can't help who they are because it was never their choice. It was how they were born. But they are still people, of two equal spirits, both male and female. Stop persecuting them. They want what everyone wants. Respect.
Glad to see this! I believe Fr. James mentioned on his FB page they also sat at the same table during the Synod. I wonder what their conversations were like then as well.