Making a Meal of It

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Each year the Vatican holds a lunch for the poor, and in 2023 Pope Francis invited transgender women to the event. In 2023 and 2024, two of the women were chosen to sit at the pope's table.

What, queer Catholics and their supporters wondered, would the new pontiff do in 2025? On LGBTQ matters, Pope Leo XIV has so far played it close to the vest. Or vestment.

At the lunch yesterday, some 1,300 people dined on lasagna and chicken cutlets. The guests were migrants, disabled folks, homeless people—and 48 transgender women. They made the cut. However, none ate with the pope.

Vatican observers dissected the lunch as though they were Hedda Hopper at the Brown Derby.

"That he’d mingle, that he [sat] close to [us], that’s a good sign, right?" said a trans woman who attended. A liberal priest who ministers to transgender women said they weren't able to meet the pontiff, but they were seated "very, very close to the pope."

Success as measured in terms of feet and inches. This is Europe, so make that meters and centimeters.

Another trans woman admitted to some disappointment that none were included at the pope's table. "But we still received a sense that the church is not going to close the door that it opened," she said.

Who can say? If, in 2026, the transgender women are again invited but need binoculars to see the pope, we'll know the door is closing. Likewise if they're served one olive and an arugula leaf.

Staying the Course

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The first evidence is in.

Today the shiny new pope affirmed that the family is founded on the "stable union between a man and a woman." Pope Leo XIV allayed fears among conservative Catholics that he might expand his predecessor's outreach to LGBTQ Catholics. He also affirmed traditional Catholic teaching on abortion.

I assume he got all that out of the way early so he can concentrate on advocating for peace and the rights of, well, other people.

Apparently we're several pontiffs away from seeing the Catholic Church embrace queer folks. But when that pope arrives, she'll be terrific.

Phew

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The cardinals have chosen a new pope. White smoke is rising from the Sistine Chapel's chimney.

I'm just glad it's not orange smoke.

Aiming High

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"I’d like to be pope," Donald Trump told reporters this week. "That would be my number one choice."

That was allegedly a joke. Sen. Lindsey Graham followed with his own bootlicking frivolity on X, urging the papal conclave to keep an open mind, and noting the "first Pope-U.S. President combination has many upsides."

Given Trump's endless need to feed his ego, he might just skip pope and declare himself God. And the servile Graham would declare, "It's true! I saw him turn wine into ketchup!"

On the Cusp

Image by LoggaWiggler from Pixabay

The Vatican said today that Pope Francis is in critical condition.

Doubtless Donald Trump, as head of state, is prepared to fly to Rome—and declare himself Pope Donald I.

This Week's Quote

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We are glad that Pope Francis has apologized for using such a demeaning term . . . The truth is that the Church simply could not function without those countless gay priests, bishops and maybe even popes who currently serve and have served over the centuries. 

Marianne Duddy-Burke, DignityUSA’s Executive Director

Source:  DignityUSA

Mea Culpas

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Pope Francis apologized today for using an offensive Italian term describing gay men.

I guess this is the moment for me to confess that I once accidentally referred to the pontiff as "Poop Francis."

Kansas City Chafes

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You've probably heard about the commencement speech the kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs gave earlier this month at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. If he meant to provoke, Harrison Butker hit it right between the uprights.

The obviously conservative Catholic referred to "the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it." He railed against "dangerous gender ideologies," as well as "the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion." Butker denounced abortion, and urged female graduates to embrace the role of homemaker and beware the "diabolical lies" about career ambition.

The NFL distanced itself from Butker's speech like Jerry Rice separating from a cornerback. Derision poured down on the kicker, who'd even managed to piss off Taylor Swift fans by misinterpreting her lyrics.

But here's my favorite part of the story:  An order of nuns affiliated with Benedictine College took to Facebook to (metaphorically) slap his hand with a ruler.

"The sisters of Mount St. Scholastica do not believe that Harrison Butker's comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested," declared the women religious.

"One of our concerns was the assertion that being a homemaker is the highest calling for a woman. We sisters have dedicated our lives to God and God's people, including the many women whom we have taught and influenced during the past 160 years. These women have made a tremendous difference in the world in their roles as wives and mothers and through their God-given gifts in leadership, scholarship, and their careers."

Owie, that smarts.

An NFL defensive line is formidable, but Butker now faces angry queer people, nuns and Swifties, and that's scarier.

Holy Family

Image by Sr. M. Jutta from Pixabay

You've probably seen this line on a button or a t-shirt or even a church sign:  "Jesus had two dads and he turned out fine."

This Christmas, at a Catholic church about an hour from Naples, Father Vitaliano Della Sala expressed a similar sentiment with a same-sex nativity scene that's setting Italian hair on fire. In the priest's tableau, Jesus has two moms.

No word on whether they're both virgins.

Papal Progress

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Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis has hinted, hedged and hiccuped that he favors a kinder approach to queer people. Yesterday he came through, as the Vatican announced that priests can bless same-sex couples.

It's still far from same-sex marriage, and there are caveats, but to a lot of LGBT Catholics, this is a big holy deal.

"To have this huge turnaround was very surprising," Aaron Bianco, a gay Catholic leader, told Gay City News. "I’m very happy. I think for non-Catholics, they probably don’t understand how huge this is. We’ve gone from 'this will never be a conversation' to 'OK priests, you have the ability now to go out and bless same-sex couples if they ask you for it.'"

I'm glad for the many queer Catholics in the world. This change might not be a miracle on a level with the loaves and fishes, but Pope Francis is damn sure feeding a multitude.