Theologian: Pope Leo Was Accurate That Church Teaching on LGBTQ+ Is Unlikely to Change Soon

Professor Daniel Horan

Theologian Daniel P. Horan published a thorough and nuanced essay analyzing Pope Leo’s recent remarks on LGBTQ+ issues and the unlikelihood of doctrinal change in the near future. Writing for the National Catholic Reporter, Horan argues that although he acknowledges the hurt caused by Leo’s comments which are “disappointing” on the surface, they contain truth about the way in which Catholic doctrine develops. 

Horan, who is the director of the Center for the Study of Spirituality and professor of philosophy, religious studies and theology at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, argues that synodality is not a short-cut to reform, and that merely including LGBTQ+ Catholics in decision-making or discernment will not result in doctrinal change, which ultimately requires explicit theological formulas. For Horan, the main issue holding back change  is a “lacuna in our current theological understanding of the human person. 

Seizing upon the Leo’s somewhat overlooked remark that “we have to change attitudes before we even think about changing what the church says about any given question,” Horan argues that Leo’s emphasis on attitudinal change reflects actual history of the development of Catholic doctrine and offers “something more substantial and theologically grounded.”

Posing the question of how we change attitudes towards changing doctrine, Horan surveys a long line of doctrinal developments of thef Catholic faith, beginning the teaching about the acceptance of the Holy Spirit as divine:

“It took more than 300 years for one of the pillars of Christian faith to be clarified and added to the universal doctrine of the church! How did this happen? It began with ‘changes in attitudes’ that began, in many ways, at the grassroots.

“It was the preponderance of belief among the faithful, the praying of the trinitarian doxology within liturgies, the invocation of the Trinity at baptism and a deeper understanding of the sensus plenior (‘fuller sense’) of Scripture over time that led theologians to explore the claims more rigorously to articulate the doctrine clearly and bishops then exercising their teaching magisterium at the council so that it could be held universally.”

This organic development culminates — rather than originates — in the highest echelons of the Church, demonstrating Leo’s claims regarding the necessity of attitudinal changes occurring prior to doctrinal change. 

Nonetheless, Horan reminds his readers that even what are now considered foundational doctrines of the Church  were not without controversy and indeed caused the sorts of ecclessial rifts in the 4th century. Leo seems intent on avoiding such splits Horan consoles those who might suspect that greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Catholic Church could another three centuries by pointing to the Church’s dramatic repositioning on religious liberty — a revolution of mere decades:

John Courtney Murray, SJ

“. . .[W]we don’t have to wait three centuries for such attitudinal changes that lead to doctrinal development to unfold. One only has to look to the last century and the case of the doctrine of religious liberty at the Second Vatican Council to see how this can happen over decades rather than centuries.

“In the 1940s, theologian and Jesuit Fr. John Courtney Murray began writing academic articles and books about the relationship between Catholic theology and the state, particularly exploring the so-called ‘American experiment’ of religious freedom (something that Catholic doctrine explicitly rejected at the time). His writings were seen as controversial and he was forbidden from speaking or writing about the subject, that is until he was named a theological peritus (“expert”) at the Second Vatican Council and served as a key adviser in the articulation of the church’s outright reversal on the doctrine of religious freedom.”

Horan expresses confidence that real change on LGBTQ+ issues will inevitably win out:

“I believe that today we are in a place not unlike the 20 years between 1945 and 1965, that as impossible as it may seem for real change to occur that recognizes the full dignity and value of LGBTQ+ people in the church, and as painful as it can be for theologians and pastoral ministers doing this work in the face of rejection and threat, the Holy Spirit will inevitably prevail.”

In concluding, he reminds his readers that it is the Spirit which guides the process and that everybody in the Church has a role to play:

“The Spirit begins by inspiring the baptized to live their faith fully, to embrace their true selves authentically, to deepen their relationships with one another and God, and to share that truth with others.

“In a synodal church, theologians and bishops must hear and recognize the truth witnessed through the diverse lives of the people of God and make sure that the way we understand and express our doctrines about the human person has room to reflect all people adequately and truthfully.”

—Jeromiah Taylor, New Ways Ministry, October 3, 2025

Read more about the conversation surrounding Pope Leo’s developing stance on Church reform issues.