For years, the official stance of Catholic bishops on LGBTQ+ issues has been predictable. Documents from the Vatican, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and individual bishops have reflected what many describe as incomplete knowledge about the lives of sexual and gender minorities. There has been an awareness of developments in science about gender and sexuality. Absent have been related discussions from the theological community. And most notably absent has been any meaningful conversation with LGBTQ+ people themselves. That silence is beginning to break.
Pope Leo XIV commented early in his pontificate that it was “highly unlikely” that Catholic teaching about sexuality and marriage would change very soon. But he also said that “we have to change attitudes” as a prelude to any future doctrinal change. That distinction — between doctrine and attitude — is now being tested in quiet meetings across the United States.
Since 2023, New Ways Ministry, a national Catholic ministry of justice, dialogue, and reconciliation for LGBTQ+ people, has sponsored a series of private two-day meetings where bishops interact with theologians, scientific professionals, scholars, pastoral ministers, and most importantly, LGBTQ+ people themselves. Seventeen bishops have attended these programs at Georgetown University, St. Louis University, and the Siena Retreat Center in Racine, Wisconsin. Many have attended more than one conference.
The meetings were held under the Chatham House Rule, which allows information to be shared but keeps the names of attendees confidential. The privacy was intentional. It allowed for honest and frank dialogue that might not have been possible in a public setting.
What Happened Behind Closed Doors
The meetings covered a variety of topics: pastoral ministry, moral theology, health care, psychological understandings of gender, employment issues, school policies, and, perhaps most importantly, the positive and negative encounters that lesbian, gay, transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people have had with the institutional church.
Bishops listened with deep attention to personal stories from gay priests and lesbian nuns who shared how it felt to serve the church while receiving negative messages about their very being. Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky, highlighted how important personal testimony is for church leaders to hear: “It is one thing to consider an issue; it is quite another to encounter a person whose life is affected by that issue.”
Theologians explained rationales for greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ people through the application of traditional Catholic concepts. Cristina Traina, the Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ Chair in Catholic Theology at Fordham University, noted that even someone as revered as St. Thomas Aquinas broke forth with ideas considered revolutionary in his time, simply by bringing together Catholic principles and what was then the newest secular knowledge.
The bishops also heard from Dr. Cynthia Herrick, a practicing endocrinologist and former co-director at an academic adult transgender center. She spoke about the latest scientific understandings of gender development. Gender identity is not based on a new theory or ideology, she said, and it is not a contagion. How we understand our gender is determined by specialized areas within the brain.
They also heard about what pastoral ministers are doing in schools, parishes, and dioceses. Yunuen Trujillo, a Catholic LGBTQ+ woman, lay minister, and author, spoke about the challenges of doing LGBTQ+ ministry in the Hispanic community. “The need is especially urgent at this time,” she said, “when many Latinos are being targeted for harassment and discrimination by their own government. The church must be a safe and welcoming space for all.”
The Impact
At the conclusion of one meeting, a bishop was in tears when he expressed how little he had known about the realities of transgender people and regretted how he may have unintentionally added to their pain. Auxiliary Bishop Michael Saporito of Newark, New Jersey, said, “I certainly felt enriched by the exchange of personal stories and information that was offered. I had many questions answered and still need time to learn more.”
Archbishop Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee reflected: “Dialogue and listening are constitutive to learning and understanding. Once they cease, so does the hope for growth and movement.”
Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, said after the 2026 meeting that he was “very grateful to New Ways Ministry for facilitating this conference. The honest exchanges gave me a deeper insight into the issues facing LGBTQ members of the Catholic Church. The atmosphere was collegial and respectful, living up to the ideals of synodality.”
Bishop Joseph Kopacz of Jackson, Mississippi, echoed these sentiments: “Further such meetings are needed. It was an authentic expression of what the Spirit is saying to the church in the worldwide synod.”
The bishops were not the only beneficiaries. Maxwell Kuzma, a Catholic transgender man and writer who shared his personal journey at the meeting, offered another perspective: “This was Catholicism at its best: rigorous intellectual discussion among experts, with plenty of genuine fraternal interest to go around.” He added that by “listening to the bishops’ perspectives, I saw the pressures and challenges facing the American church outlined clearly and the urgent need for outspoken moral clarity in times such as these.”
What Has Been Accomplished
Most importantly, these meetings have broken the ice of chilly silence that, even after Pope Francis’ warm approach, still stifled progress on LGBTQ+ issues. They are opening up the conversation.
The official documents from church leaders have not changed. The teachings have not been revised. But seventeen bishops have now sat across the table from LGBTQ+ Catholics and listened to their stories. They have heard from scientists about the biological basis of gender identity. They have heard from theologians about how traditional Catholic concepts can support greater acceptance.
As Pope Leo XIV said, progress depends on changing attitudes. These meetings are an attempt to change attitudes — not through doctrine, but through encounter.
The Bottom Line
Seventeen US bishops have participated in private, two-day meetings since 2023 where they engaged with LGBTQ+ Catholics, theologians, scientists, and pastoral ministers. The meetings covered pastoral ministry, moral theology, health care, psychological understandings of gender, employment, school policies, and personal testimonies from gay priests, lesbian nuns, and transgender Catholics. The sessions were held under the Chatham House Rule to allow for honest dialogue.
Bishops who attended described being enriched, having questions answered, and gaining deeper insight. Some expressed regret for unintentionally adding to the pain of transgender people. The meetings were sponsored by New Ways Ministry, a national Catholic ministry for LGBTQ+ people.
Official church teaching has not changed. But attitudes are shifting — one conversation at a time. And as Pope Leo XIV noted, changing attitudes is the necessary prelude to any future change.
