The first American pope, Pope Leo XIV, expressed “concern” for his homeland during his first interview in the job he was appointed to in May.
In an extensive interview published by religious site Crux on Thursday, the pontiff avoided getting involved in partisan U.S. politics while making clear he will talk about issues involving “human dignity” and respecting people of all backgrounds.
“One of the last conversations I had with the Vice President of the United States — 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,” the Pope said. “Obviously, there’s some things going on in the States that are of concern.”
While the 70-year-old holy man believes engaging President Trump directly is best left to religious leaders in the U.S., he didn’t rule out speaking with the 79-year-old leader at some point.
“If or when there were specific issues that, if it were possible to engage with him, I would have no problem doing so,” Pope Leo said.
The Pope’s brother told the New York Times in May that his sibling isn’t pleased with U.S. immigration practices and “doesn’t think he’ll stay quiet for too long if he has something to say.”
The White House extended an invitation to the Pope in May. It’s not clear when or if the Chicago native will visit Washington, D.C.
Crux also asked Pope Leo about the Catholic Church’s relationship with the LGBT+ community. His predecessor, Pope Francis, supported inclusion, but stopped short of endorsing same-sex marriage. Leo doesn’t seem ready to take take that step either and didn’t indicate it was one of his early priorities.
“At some point, when specific questions will come up… People want the church doctrine to change, want attitudes to change,” he said. “I think we have to change attitudes before we even think about changing what the Church says about any given question.”
Pope Leo calls it “highly unlikely” that what the church teaches about sexuality and marriage will change anytime soon.
