Pope Leo puts the brake on Church reforms

LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Pope Leo XIV sought to reassure Catholics in his first interview published Thursday that he would not change key doctrine on gay marriage and women deacons, after his predecessor’s divisive papacy.

The United States (US)-born pontiff, elected four months ago, struck a different tone to outspoken Pope Francis, whose attempts to open the Church for the modern era enraged traditionalists.

In an interview with US journalist Elise Ann Allen for the book “Pope Leo XIV: Global Citizen, Missionary of the 21st Century,” Leo admitted that “people want the church doctrine to change, want attitudes to change.”

But he said “we have to change attitudes before we even think about changing what the Church says about any given question.”

Leo said he shared Francis’ desire to welcome everyone in to the Church, “but I don’t invite a person in because they are or are not of any specific identity.”

His predecessor, who died in April aged 88, made numerous statements welcoming people traditionally seen as “sinners” into the Church.

But Leo said it was “highly unlikely, certainly in the near future,” that Church doctrine on sexuality or marriage would change.

“I think that the Church’s teaching will continue as it is,” he said in the book, published Thursday in Spanish in Peru, where Leo lived for nearly 20 years as a missionary.

The decision by Francis to authorize blessings for same-sex couples in very limited circumstances sparked a backlash from conservatives, particularly in Africa and the US.

Leo — elected as the Church grappled with serious internal divisions — said “any issue dealing with the LGBTQ questions is highly polarizing,” adding: “I’m trying not to continue to polarize or promote polarization in the Church.”