by Joe Siegel

LGBTQ reporting of the April 21 death of Pope Francis has been mostly positive, based on the stories published in the days following. The late Pope’s outreach to the community was cited as a reason why his death is LGBTQ news.

“Pope Francis, who made the Catholic Church less hostile toward LGBTQ people, died Monday in Rome. He was 88,” wrote John Ferrannini, assistant news editor of the Bay Area Reporter (BAR). Ferrannini also noted the pontiff’s neutral stance on the LGBTQ community: “Shortly after he became pope in 2013, Francis became The Advocate’s person of the year after he said to a reporter, ‘If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?’”

The issue came up again in 2023 when — with some countries enacting harsh anti-gay laws — the pope encouraged the decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide in an Associated Press interview, saying, “It’s not a crime. Yes, but it’s a sin. Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime.”

“He gave space for non-LGBTQ Catholics to accept their queer family members or friends, and he mostly led with compassion,” explained Cynthia Laird, BAR’s news editor.

“We strived to get reaction from LGBTQ Catholic leaders in the various groups [like] Dignity,” Laird said, referring to the pro-LGBTQ Catholic organization. “They all offered thoughtful comments. And in our case, the pope’s directive to allow blessings for same-sex couples in 2023 was met with fierce resistance from the San Francisco archbishop, which we broke when that happened.”

“Francis moved people with his ready smile, his love of children and his deep and abiding belief that the world could and should be a better, more equitable, more egalitarian, more compassionate place for everyone, irrespective of who they were,” columnist Victoria Brownworth wrote in the Philadelphia Gay News.

Brownworth noted: “Francis has said, ‘Being homosexual is not a crime.’ And while Francis did assert that homosexuality is still considered a sin by the church, he also declared that people cannot change who they are and that, ‘We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each of us fights for our dignity.’ Francis continued to advocate for LGBTQ+ people. In 2020, the Pope called for laws allowing civil unions for same-sex couples. And in December 2023, Francis said same-sex couples could receive blessings.”

“Francis was often perceived as being more accepting of LGBTQ+ Catholics than previous pontiffs,” wrote Ryan Adamczeski for the Advocate.

But Adamczeski also pointed out Pope Francis’ adherence to Catholic tradition: “However, Francis did not change church doctrine. He approved a Vatican document in 2016 reaffirming that ‘persons with homosexual tendencies’ are barred from Roman Catholic seminaries and the priesthood. He also allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, though only if the blessing does not resemble a wedding nor take place as part of regular church activities.”

Andrew Davis, publisher of the Windy City Times in Chicago, wrote on April 21 about Pope Francis’ “complicated legacy.”

“When he was Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the pope visited HIV/AIDS patients in hospice, according to a 2013 profile in the National Catholic Reporter,” wrote Davis. “… Another example of Francis’s mixed legacy involves transgender people. Francis was behind the ordinance that allowed transgender people to be baptized as Catholics, serve as godparents and be witnesses at weddings — but he also officially denied the existence of transgender identities and criticized gender-affirming surgeries, although he met with a group of trans women in 2023.”

“Francis made numerous overtures that seemed to acknowledge the dignity with which the community is entitled, but in other circumstances he came up short and perpetuated the church’s historic prejudices,” said Matt Simonette, executive editor of the Windy City Times. “Still, there was a level of engagement between the church and our community that hadn’t been there before under Francis, and I’ll be (pleasantly) surprised if we see it again in the near future.”

IN THE NEWS
Volume 27
Issue 3