Pope Leo XIV said in his first interview as history’s first American pope that he has no intention of getting involved in U.S. politics but will raise his voice on issues of concern to the Catholic Church, including on immigration.
The Pope spoke on a range of topics — from the Trump administration to the clergy sexual abuse crisis, welcoming LGBTQIA+ Catholics and Vatican-China relations — in the interview, published Thursday (September 18, 2025).
It was conducted by Vatican correspondent Elise Ann Allen of the news site Crux for a biography of Pope Leo that was published Thursday (September 18) in Peru, where he was bishop for many years.
On LGBTQIA+ rights
The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual people must be treated with dignity and respect, but that homosexual activity is “intrinsically disordered”, he said.
It opposes gay marriage, saying marriage is a union between a man and woman. “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,” Pope Leo said.
“I think we have to change attitudes before we even think about changing what the church says about any given question,” he said.
Ties with China
Pope Leo said he didn’t foresee any short-term changes in the Vatican’s controversial 2018 agreement with Beijing over bishop nominations.
The Vatican under Pope Francis had inked the accord hoping it would help unite China’s estimated 12 million Catholics, long divided between those belonging to an official, State-sanctioned church and an underground church loyal to Rome.
“I in no way pretend to be wiser or more experienced than all those who have come before me,” the Pope said, adding he was studying the issue and speaking with Chinese people “on both sides” about it.
The Vatican has defended the 2018 accord against criticism that Pope Francis sold out the underground faithful, who endured decades of persecution by the Beijing authorities. The Vatican has said the deal was necessary to prevent an even worse schism in the Chinese church after China named bishops without the pope’s consent.
Sex abuse scandals
Pope Leo said the sex abuse crisis is “a real crisis” that has not yet been solved, and that the church still hasn’t found a way to help victims heal. But he also said the rights of priests must be respected. “Statistics show that well over 90 per cent of people who come forward and make accusations, they are authentically victims. They are telling the truth. They are not making this up,” he said.
“But there have also been proven cases of some kind of false accusation. There have been priests whose lives have been destroyed because of that,” he added.
The pope also said the scandal “cannot become the centre focus of the church.” He was instrumental in helping victims of an abusive Peruvian group find justice but he has been accused by a U.S. victim advocacy group of not doing enough to help other Peruvian victims.
Trump and US politics
Pope Leo said he recognised the influence of the U.S. on world affairs and mentioned migration as one of the issue important to the Catholic Church.
He recalled a letter Pope Francis sent to U.S. bishops earlier this year rebuking the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations of migrants. The letter took direct aim at Vice President JD Vance’s defence of the deportation programme on theological grounds.
Pope Leo praised his successor Francis’ initiative and said U.S. bishops showed “courage” in confronting the administration, expressing hopes they would continue to take the lead on such issues.
“One of the last conversations I had with the vice president of the U.S.– I have not had direct conversations with or have not met the president – I talked about human dignity and how important that is for all people, wherever you’re born, and hopefully to find ways to respect human beings and the way we treat them in the policies and choices we make,” Pope Leo said.
The Pope made clear he is not a supporter of Mr. Trump, adding that he and his brother Luis Prevost, a self-described “MAGA-type,” who has met the U.S. president are in “different places.”
“The U.S. is a power player on the world level, we have to recognise that, and sometimes decisions are made more based on economics than on human dignity and human support, but (we have to) continue to challenge and to raise some questions and to see the best way to do that,” Pope Leo said.
Women’s voices
Pope Leo vowed to continue appointing women to leadership positions in the church, but tamped down any hopes of ordaining women as deacons or as priests. He pointed to an ongoing study by the Vatican’s doctrine office on the issue.
“I at the moment don’t have an intention of changing the teaching of the church on the topic,” he said. “I am certainly willing to continue to listen to people.”
Vatican finances
Pope Leo inherited a longstanding financial crunch at the Vatican, which has been running a 50 million to 60 million euro ($57 million to $68 million) structural deficit, a one billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall and declining donations.
The crisis hit hardest during the pandemic when the Holy See’s main source of revenue — the Vatican Museums — closed down. But things are improving and “it is not the crisis that people have been led to believe,” Pope Leo said.
“I’m not saying we can relax,” he said. “I don’t think the crisis is over, I think we have to continue to work on this, but I’m not losing sleep over it, and I think that it’s important that we communicate a different message.”
Published – September 18, 2025 06:00 pm IST
