Archbishop Wester Calls the Church to Draw Nearer to LGBTQ+ People

In a major milestone for LGBTQ+ Catholics and the ongoing journey of synodality, Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, has published a powerful reflection in America magazine detailing his participation in a gathering of bishops, scholars, and LGBTQ+ people organized by New Ways Ministry.

Archbishop John Wester

The article represents a rare and candid public account by a sitting U.S. archbishop regarding his personal transformation through direct encounter with the LGBTQ+ community. Wester links his experience at the New Ways gathering in Racine, Wisconsin, to a critical call for structural and pastoral change within the Church hierarchy.

The Racine meeting was the third in a series of high-level dialogues facilitated by New Ways Ministry since 2023. Seventeen U.S. bishops have participated in these gatherings which bring together theologians, pastoral mnisters, medical experts, queer Catholics, and family members.

Wester frames his reflection around the biblical story of Samuel and Eli (1 Samuel 3), suggesting that bishops must move past the assumption that they are the Church’s sole teachers. Instead, he argues, bishops must embrace a synodal attitude, exemplified by Eli, humbly listening so as to discern how God is already speaking through the lived experiences of the laity.

Reflecting on his time in Racine, Wester wrote that it “deepened my pastoral concern, understanding and right judgment about the lives of L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics.”

As a result of the experience at the meeting, Wester said he “was struck by the urgent need for the church to develop a pastoral approach that more compassionately listens to the needs of the people of God today.”

He continued:

“As a church, I fear we are not drawing near enough to our L.G.B.T.Q. brothers and sisters; we are not moving forward together on the same journey. This is especially true when it comes to the experiences of our transgender and nonbinary people, many of whom feel we approach them with suspicion and hostility. There is a persistent tendency in our discourse to seek simple, categorical answers for what are, in reality, deeply complex and personal human journeys.”.

One of the more significant areas of education Wester mentioned was a new understanding of  scientific insights about gender, which were illustrated by personal testimonies:  “I learned a basic and significant fact: How we understand our gender is determined by specialized areas within the brain.”  He continued: 

“We heard moving testimonies from a transgender man and the mother of a transgender girl, both describing a profound, innate sense of identity that was manifested as early as 3 years of age. Such accounts suggest that gender identity is not a mere ‘choice’ or a passing “phase” but a deeply felt experience of personhood, seemingly rooted in the intricate interplay of biology and neurology. Respect for this innate concept of self that originates in the brain, as part of the body, is essential to recognizing the dignity of each human being.”

Samuel and Eli, depicted as in 1 Samuel 3

Wester drew an analogy to how society historically treated left-handed children:

“I thought about our society from the early 20th century until the 1960s, when we often forced left-handed children to write with their right hand. I wondered if we were in a similar situation today by equating gender identity with some aberration.”

Wester insisted that entering into dialogue with modern science (a medical doctor who practices in a gender clinic participated in the gathering) does not threaten Catholic tradition. . Citing the classic theological principle that faith and reason are the “two wings” of the human spirit, he warned that “our theological reflection remains incomplete if it is closed to the findings of all the sciences. By dialoguing with scientific insights and the lived realities of the faithful, we do not abandon our tradition; rather, we fulfill it.”

The archbishop concluded his essay with a “sobering warning” to his fellow bishops. In scriptures, Eli initially failed to perceive that God was calling the young Samuel. Wester cautioned that a similar “prolonged failure of discernment” threatens the modern hierarchy if it remains fixed in old assumptions and closed to the margins: “We cannot remain asleep while so many L.G.B.T.Q. people feel that the church is not connecting with them or, worse, failing to listen to them and welcome them,” Wester wrote, calling for a pastoral approach that respects the absolute sanctuary of the human conscience.

He concluded by noting:

“I left this time of encounter and dialogue in Racine with a renewed sense of hope, and also a sense of urgency. We cannot remain asleep while so many L.G.B.T.Q. people feel that the church is not connecting with them or, worse, failing to listen to them and welcome them.”

For decades, the work of building bridges in our Church has been a long, exhausting, and often painful road. Yet, as Archbishop Wester’s historic public reflection reminds us, real change occurs when leadership chooses to look at the person rather than hide behind abstract concepts. When we choose encounter over exclusion, the Risen Christ becomes visible.

–Wesley Cocozello, New Ways Ministry, June 4, 2026

Further reading

For more information about the New Ways Ministry’s gatherings for bishops, scholars, and LGBTQ+ people, see the following blog posts:

New Ways Ministry Gathers Bishops and LGBTQ+ Experts for Dialogue

New Ways Ministry’s Gathering of Bishops and LGBTQ+ Folk Made Synodality Real

Pope Leo Opens Door to Greater LGBTQ+ Equality, Says Catholic Newspaper