Michael O’Loughlin:  Outreach.faith 4/21/25

 "I loved the church too much to leave, but as I slowly grew more comfortable with my own sexual orientation, I didn’t feel I had a spiritual home within it.    That started to change when Francis was elected pope.

    Beginning perhaps with his now famous response to a question from a journalist about gay men in the priesthood (“Who am I to judge?”) I sensed that Francis was opening the door for me and others like me to imagine life in the church without compromising key parts of our lives.    More examples followed.

    Francis urged parents of LGBTQ children not to abandon their children. He criticized Catholics who were too focused on sexual morality. He embraced transgender people. Later, Francis said that LGBTQ people have a right to pastoral care and he even opened up the possibility of priests blessing same-sex couples. He sent several notes of encouragement to us at Outreach.

    For me, Pope Francis created room to share my story honestly with my fellow believers and the wider world, a papal permission I did not imagine before his election.

… Francis ensured that many more chapters will be written, the only limit is our own commitment to radically live out the Gospel".