Vote Now: Give Pope Francis a Grade on LGBTQ+ Issues
March 13th of this year will mark ten years since Jorge Bergoglio became Pope Francis. Much has happened in the Catholic Church and the LGBTQ+ community during the past decade: marriage equality spreading around the globe, transgender equality becoming front and center topic in church and society, LGBTQ+ welcome emerging as a major global issue in the Synod—and so much more.
Pope Francis has often loomed large in these LGBTQ+ conversations, particularly those focused on the church. For some, he has taken giant steps. For others, he has not done enough. For still others, he may not have been helpful at all. The debate about his role continues.
On special anniversaries, it is traditional to assess a pope’s record. So, the editors of Bondings 2.0 are turning to our readers to ask you to evaluate Pope Francis’ legacy so far on LGBTQ+ issues.
We are asking that you simply answer one question on our response form: What kind of grade would you give Pope Francis on LGBTQ+ topics? The choices are the traditional A, B, C, D, F, with pluses and minuses allowed. On the form you will also have the option to explain your grade in 50 words or less.
You can access the response form by clicking here. The deadline for responding is March 6th, 5:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time. We will report the results of the survey in a blog post on March 13th, 2023.
To help you recall what Pope Francis has done in regard to LGBTQ+ issues, please visit “The Many Faces of Pope Francis: A Timeline of His LGBTQ Record.” This webpage is a chronology of all of Pope Francis’ statements, gestures, and milestones on LGBTQ+ topics—the good, the bad, and the in-between. (We will continue to update this webpage throughout Pope Francis’ papacy.)
Please share this survey with those in your network who are interested in Catholic LGBTQ+ issues.
Thank you for your participation!
—Francis DeBernardo and Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, February 27, 2023
Ultimately, he inherits the lack of change in the USCCB, and recent statements by the Bishop in Uganda. Without his words invoking larger institutional change in places that are blatantly unaccepting, it can’t help but come across as performative.
It has taken ten years to finally start specifically speaking on this topic, and even then, he has not said anything substantiative on dialing back the Church’s rhetoric on gender and specific inclusion for transgender and non-binary people.
The best grade I can give at this point is “Incomplete”. I can see that maybe the issue in people drifting away from the Church is finally being recognized and that there is recognition something needs to change. But there seems to be indecision and lack of commitment as to what shape that change can specifically look like. Hoping that Pope Francis has done enough that whoever gets the mantle next will be able to take those next steps to introduce meaningful and sustainable change. The Church’s current doctrine does not recognize the true nature, beauty, and goodness of God’s creation in these areas.
I prefer “who am I to judge”.
Amen.
A- because I never would have dared to dream that what he has done would happen in my lifetime. Most of what has not gone well is from pushback from fearful unawareness and sometimes just plain meanness. I am still hoping for more on respect of conscience.
Grade F.
While the grass is growing the cows are starving.
Well put!
A He is mortal as are all of us, but at least he is going in a better direction than the last 500 years.
Using a weighted average, where what he does counts for more than what he says, I give him a C.