New Ways Ministry is a Catholic outreach that educates and advocates for equity, inclusion and justice for LGBTQ persons, equipping leaders to build bridges of dialogue within the Church and civil society.
The following is a statement from Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, on the passing of Pope Francis:
With simple words and gentle gestures, Pope Francis powerfully moved the Catholic Church to become a more welcoming home for LGBTQ+ people. New Ways Ministry mourns his passing, while at the same time we give thanks for his witness and ministry.
Francis was not only the first pope to use the word “gay” when speaking about LGBTQ+ people, he was the first pope to speak lovingly and tenderly to them. His kind words of welcome to this community, traditionally marginalized in the church, rang loudly around the globe. His recommendation to pastoral ministers and church leaders to accompany, listen, and dialogue with LGBTQ+ people has opened doors that had been sealed shut by the homophobia and transphobia of previous pontiffs.
From the early months of his papacy when he uttered the now-iconic “Who am I to judge?” in response to a question about accepting gay priests, through numerous affirming pastoral messages to individual LGBTQ+ people, to his support for civil unions, and his condemnation of criminalization laws, Pope Francis has changed the church irreversibly by allowing people to see how their Catholic faith requires acceptance and equality.
Even with his many groundbreaking milestones, Pope Francis did have areas where his welcome was not as wide as it could have been. In the area of gender identity and transgender issues, the pontiff adhered closely to the male-female gender binary, referring to any newer understandings of gender identity as “gender ideology” or “ideological colonization.” His misunderstanding and mischaracterization of gender identity did not, however, prevent Pope Francis from reaching out with compassion to transgender people, continually calling for people to respect the inherent human dignity of these minorities.
New Ways Ministry has been blessed to have corresponded with Pope Francis since 2021. His responses were always warm, affirming, and encouraging. He even congratulated our ministry’s co-founder, Sister Jeannine Gramick, on the occasion of her 50 years of pastoral service and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, calling her “a valiant woman.” His messages have been a blessing to New Ways Ministry and all of its supporters, while less enlightened church leaders have labeled as heretics those who have worked tirelessly for LGBTQ+ equality.
Even greater blessings were the two opportunities that New Ways Ministry personnel had to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican to dialogue on LGBTQ+ issues. In October 2023, four New Ways Ministry staff members–Sister Jeannine Gramick, Francis DeBernardo, Matthew Myers, Robert Shine–sat down for 50 minutes with the pontiff who encouraged them to continue their ministry of welcome, encounter and hope.
The second visit occurred in October 2024 when the same group were accompanied by an intersex woman, a transgender man, a doctor who works in gender medicine, a theologian, and a Catholic deacon who is the father of a transgender daughter. For 90 minutes, the pope listened to their stories of pain, exclusion, and also the joy that living authentically has brought them.
Pope Francis has been a gift to the church and to the LGBTQ+ community. For many years, we have prayed to God for such a leader to continue the work of Vatican II. We have not been disappointed, but have been blessed by the message of his words and deeds.
We trust that our loving God, who is a God of justice and equality, will continue to bless us by extending Francis’ welcoming and inclusive message in the next papacy. Whoever the next pope will be, New Ways Ministry pledges to continue spreading the Catholic message of welcome, listening, accompaniment, and justice which Pope Francis has ignited.
—Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry, April 21, 2025