Examining the Changes Pope Francis Made for LGBTQ+ People in the Church

Catholic LGBTQ+ ministry advocates were among those most grieved by Pope Francis’ passing because he was a “pastoral revolutionary,” who did so much to “change the conversation around sexual orientation and gender identity, according to a headline in The National Catholic Reporter.  Writer Katie Collins Scott interviewed a number of different advocates for the story, and the following excerpts are but mere highlights of the extensive research she did to gather opinions.  

Michael Sennett

Michael Sennett, a Catholic transgender man who is on New Ways Ministry’s Advisory Board stated:

“Some say he did not do enough; others criticize him for even meeting with people like me, transgender people. But he led by example. And in doing so he brought more hope, more love to the Catholic Church — and to my life.”

Sr. Luisa DeRouen, OP, who pioneered ministry to the transgender community several decades ago, acknowledged that the high hopes people had that the recent Synod on Synodality Pope Francis had convened would bring about positive changes for the LGBTQ+ community. Although this did not happen, Sr. Luisa still sees positive growth from the Synod experience, stating: “The bishops now know people from all over the world are declaring that the Catholic Church needs to be a more welcoming place for the LGBTQ community.” She also noted that “the conversation that began at the synod cannot be undone.”

Sr. Luisa Derouen

The reporter captured several other thoughts by Sr. Luisa:

What Francis has done is more fundamental than changing church teaching, said Derouen, the religious sister who ministers among trans people. 

He has changed “the disposition, the posture that we have toward each other as the body of Christ,” she said. Francis insisted “that we start with the person before us — real people — and not academic doctrine. I think that can’t help but eventually lead to changes in church teaching, because that is precisely how doctrine develops.”

The process begins, said Derouen, when the “lived experience of the people of God no longer adequately reflects what the church teaches.”

Sr. Jeannine Gramick

Sr. Jeannine Gramick, SL, Co-Founderof New Ways Ministry remembered that “His concern for those on the margins, as well as his humility, shone through right from the start.” 

And the pope’s appeal cut across generations:

The pope helped young people see the church as a force for justice, said Yunuen Trujillo, a community organizer and immigration attorney in Los Angeles who’s worked in young adult and LGBTQ Catholic ministries. “He was a breath of fresh air for young people.”

Yunuen Trujillo

Yet, Francis brought in a new era of LGBTQ+ ministry. In 2021, Gramick and Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, wrote to Pope Francis about their outreach and the ways that it had changed since his election as Pope. Pope Francis wrote back with an encouraging message. 

According to DeBernardo, LGBTQ+ ministries grew under Francis’ leadership. 

“There has been an incredible desire to include LGBTQ people in the church, but there’s been an incredible fear on the part of pastoral workers. Francis erased that fear and gave people courage.”

Fr. Bryan Massingale

With Francis’ passing, the Church will have to decide how to approach LGBTQ+ issues. Fr. Bryan Massingale, a theologian and gay man, believes that future popes must build on Francis’ inclusive legacy:

“I think the question that Pope Francis has placed before the church is this: Are gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer Catholics equally members of the body of Christ or not? And I think Pope Francis has tried to move the Catholic Church to a stance of affirmation, because I think that’s the only place that authentic Christianity can lead us.”

The report by Katie Collins Scott contains several more perspectives, and a wonderful history of Catholicism’s approach before Pope Francis, and it recounts many of the changes that he made.  To read the article in its entirety, click here. 

—Sarah Cassidy, New Ways Ministry, May 2, 2025