Two steps to the left…and one to the right?

Leo on synodality, women and the so-called “LGBTQ+” issue, and the liturgy

Excerpts from Pope Leo XIV’s first lengthy interview

The cover of the Spanish version of Elise Ann Allen’s book length interview with Pope Leo XIV. The English version is to be released in 2026.

Elise Ann Allen of the Catholic news site CRUX conducted a lengthy interview with Pope Leo XIV in two hour-and-a-half sessions for her Spanish-language book León XIV: ciudadano del mundo, misionero del siglo XXI (in English, Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the XXI Century. The English version will be published in 2026.)

I think the concept of synodality is still something many people struggle to understand. How would you define it? 

Synodality is an attitude, an openness, a willingness to understand. Speaking of the Church now, this means each and every member of the church has a voice and a role to play through prayer, reflection… To bring people together and to understand that relationship, that interaction, that creating opportunities of encounter, is an important dimension of how we live our life as church.

Some people have felt threatened by that. Sometimes bishops or priests might feel, ‘synodality is going to take away my authority’. That’s not what synodality is about, and maybe your idea of what your authority is, is somewhat out of focus, mistaken.

Two of the most prominent hot-button issues that came out of the Synod on Synodality…were the role of women in the church and the church’s approach to the LBGTQ+ community. How will you approach them in your new role now as pope? 

In a synodal way. For most people, certainly the understanding that the role of women in the church has to continue to develop, I think in that sense there was a positive response. I hope to continue in the footsteps of Francis, including in appointing women to some leadership roles at different levels in the Church’s life, recognizing the gifts that women have that can contribute to the life of the Church in many ways.

The topic becomes a hot-button issue when the specific question is asked about ordination…I at the moment don’t have an intention of changing the teaching of the Church on the topic.

Just a quick follow up on the LGBTQ+ point, it can be a very ideological issue…What will your own approach be? 

What I’m trying to say is what Francis said very clearly when he would say, ‘todos, todos, todos’. Everyone’s invited in, but I don’t invite a person in because they are or are not of any specific identity. I invite a person in because they are a son or daughter of God. You’re all welcome, and let’s get to know one another and respect one another. At some point, when specific questions will come up… People want the church doctrine to change, want attitudes to change. I think we have to change attitudes before we even think about changing what the Church says about any given question. I find it highly unlikely, certainly in the near future, that the church’s doctrine in terms of what the church teaches about sexuality, what the Church teaches about marriage, [will change].

Allen, in a photo on X, has Pope Leo sign a copy of the book.

How much of the reason for establishing [a study group on the liturgy] was related to divisions surrounding the Traditional Latin Mass, for example…? 

There is another issue, which is also another hot-button issue, which I have already received a number of requests and letters [about]… between the Tridentine Mass and the Vatican II Mass, the Mass of Paul VI, I’m not sure where that’s going to go. It’s obviously very complicated.

I do know that part of that issue, unfortunately, has become – again, part of a process of polarization – people have used the liturgy as an excuse for advancing other topics…I think sometimes the, say, ‘abuse’ of the liturgy from what we call the Vatican II Mass, was not helpful for people who were looking for a deeper experience of prayer, of contact with the mystery of faith that they seemed to find in the celebration of the Tridentine Mass. Again, we’ve become polarized, so that instead of being able to say, well, if we celebrate the Vatican II liturgy in a proper way, do you really find that much difference between this experience and that experience?