New pope shares thoughts on gay marriage, abortion

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

New pope shares thoughts on gay marriage, abortion

The Brief

Pope Leo XIV on Friday offered his thoughts on marriage and abortion in a meeting with the ******** diplomatic corps.

The meeting is required after a conclave and ahead of his formal installation Mass this Sunday.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

outlined a clear Catholic teaching on marriage and abortion Friday, noting that family is based on “stable union between a man and a woman” and that the unborn enjoy dignity as God’s creatures.

Leo, the first American pope, made the comments in his first meeting with the ******** diplomatic corps. The audience was private, but the ******** released Leo’s prepared text and that of the dean of the diplomatic corps. The meeting is one of the requirements after a conclave, allowing a new pope to greet representatives of world governments

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

What else did Leo say?

Leo, a member of the Augustinian religious order, also called for reviving multilateral diplomacy and promoting dialogue between religions in the search for peace. ******** City is a sovereign state under international law, has diplomatic relations with over 180 countries and enjoys observer status at the United Nations.

What they’re saying

Leo has emphasized peace as a priority of his pontificate, from the first words he uttered on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica after his May 8 election, “Peace be with you all.”

Pope Leo XIV shakes the hands and greets people of the press after an audience with thousands of journalists and media workers on May 12, 2025 at Paul VI Hall in ******** City, ********. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

He insisted that peace isn’t just the absence of conflict but a “gift” that requires work, from an end to the production of weapons to choosing words carefully.

“For words too, not only weapons, can wound and even kill,” he said.

RELATED:

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

He said it was up to governments to build peaceful societies “above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman.”

“In addition, no one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike,” he said.

Do Leo’s comments differ from Pope Francis?

Dig deeper

Pope Francis strongly reaffirmed core Catholic teaching opposing abortion and euthanasia, saying they were evidence of today’s “throwaway culture.” But he also made reaching out to LGBTQ+ Catholics a hallmark, insisting they are welcome in the church. He never changed church doctrine defining marriage as a union between man and woman and *********** acts as “intrinsically disordered.”

RELATED:

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

As the then-head of the Augustinian order, Leo in 2012 criticized the “*********** lifestyle” and the role of mass media in promoting acceptance of same-sex relationships that conflicted with Catholic doctrine. A decade later, during Francis’ pontificate, he acknowledged Francis’ call for a more inclusive church, and said he didn’t want people excluded just on the basis of their lifestyle.

The Source

This report includes information from The Associated Press.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#pope #shares #thoughts #gay #marriage #abortion

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up