by Giovanni Dal Corso Tartali

Pope Francis has often been touted as the most welcoming pontifex in history for the LGBTQ+ community. He is seen as the reformer of the church in this respect; however, his legacy might not be so revolutionary after all. The complexity of the role of the pope and the complexity of the issue within Catholic doctrine has made it difficult for the population at large to grasp the true implications of Francis’ work on LGBTQ+ issues. This complexity has led people to believe that today blessings are freely available for queer couples; that Bergoglio’s openness towards civil unions might, in some form, apply within the church; and perhaps that trans individuals are, to some extent, welcomed by the church.

However, this is not the case. It is precisely this disconnect between the narrative of the pontificate of Pope Francis and the truth of how the Church has resisted change that will be the subject of this article. I will mainly focus on the issues that surround homosexuality, as those which come with questions of gender identity are deserving of another, dedicated, space.

In order to understand why this disconnect has arisen, it is important to look at the two popes who immediately preceded Francis. John Paul II and Benedict XVI were quite conservative pontiffs, and one could argue that, given Ratzinger’s role as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) during the papacy of John Paul, the two pontificates were, doctrinally, one.

Giovanni Dal Corso Tartali is currently a Junior Honours Student at University of Glasgow where they are studying History of Art and Theology. Raised in a strongly Catholic Veronese family, which produced countless nuns, priests and a late cardinal, they have grown up surrounded by the pomp of still surviving pre-Vatican II rites and Latin masses celebrated by priests in opulent vestments. This has sparked an interest in the decorative arts and theological issues surrounding the forced evolution of Vatican II on the very fabric of Italian churches, and the relationship that the Church has with the people of the world, particularly LGBTQ+ people and the poor.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash