What a Church With More Conservative Priests Means for LGBTQ+ Catholics

Amid polarization in the Catholic Church and frantic calls from church leadership for unity, a new national survey in the U.S. found growing political and theological disparities among the clergy of this country, with implications for the development of LGBTQ+ ministry.

Pope Leo XIV welcomes Jesuit Father James Martin, an author and editor and LGBTQ+ advocate in early September.

The Catholic University of America’s 2025 National Study of Catholic Priests found that out of those priests ordained since 2010, “nearly half (51%) identified as ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ conservative, and only about one in ten as liberal.” Meanwhile, 61% of priests ordained before 1975 identified as “‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ liberal, and less than 15% as conservative. Theological views follow the same generational patterns

The priorities of younger priests are also markedly different from their older counterparts. The majority of priests ordained since 2000 (88%) say that they prioritize eucharistic devotion, while only 57% of priests ordained before 1980 say the same. Almost all priests ordained before 1980 (98%) name poverty, homelessness and food insecurity as a priority, with just 79% of younger priests agreeing. Less than half of younger priests (49%) say they prioritize racism, and even fewer (37%) prioritize LGBTQ+ issues, while their older counterparts prioritized these topics more.

Though the data seems cut and dry, there are plenty of questions the survey doesn’t answer. Why are priests becoming more conservative, when, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center, lay Catholics are becoming more progressive? Why does a rise in conservatism correspond with greater importance placed on  eucharistic devotion? What does all this mean for LGBTQ+ Catholics? 

National Catholic Reporter columnist Michael Sean Winters has a few ideas about these questions. Winters points out that the 1960s and ‘70s were rife with social protests against the Vietnam War, and in favor of civil rights. In contrast, younger priests grew up in a time that was “in many ways a reaction to the social activism of the 1960s and ’70s.”

He continues:

“The promise of a racial equality had receded, new wars were fought by an all-volunteer army, and the battle over Roe placed Catholics on the right, rather than the left, of a searing political and cultural debate.” 

Winters also says that many young priests see the church as a “refuge from a culture that they find abhorrent in its excessive vice and luxury,” and that eucharistic adoration may be an “antidote for excessive worldliness.” He also proposes that conservative families are more encouraging of a priestly vocation, which could explain the rise in conservative seminarians. 

LGBTQ+ parishioners may worry that an increase in conservatism among priests could mean harsher attitudes toward them. Yet a study by Jesuit Fr. Lucas Sharma, suggests conservative versus liberal isn’t the best way to gauge a priest’s attitude towards LGBTQ+ Catholics. In an article for the National Catholic Reporter, Camillo Barone wrote:

“…the study conducted by Sharma revealed a surprising twist: approval of Pope Francis, rather than ordination date or political ideology, predicts a more pastoral stance toward LGBTQ+ issues, suggesting that even politically conservative and religiously traditional priests can embrace a more inclusive approach when guided by the Francis example.”

[Editor’s Note: For some information on Fr. Sharma’s other Catholic LGBTQ+ research, click here.]

A similar discussion of Sharma’s findings in Katholisch.de says that priests with a more favorable opinion of Francis “are less likely to consider same-sex relations inherently wrong and are less likely to believe that gay men should not become priests.” Francis’s example of kindness and welcoming extends beyond political ideology.

As Pope Leo has promised to carry on Francis’s pastoral welcome of LGBTQ+ Catholics, many activists hope that “a culture of welcome can endure even without doctrinal change,” despite a greater number of conservative young priests.

—  Lynzee Dick, New Ways Ministry, November 7, 2025