Pope Leo XIV said on Friday (16) that the family is based on the “stable union between a man and a woman” and that the (babies) not born and the elderly have dignity as creatures of God. The speeches are a nod to the conservative wing in the defense of heterosexual marriage and in reinforcing the position of the Catholic Church against abortion.
Robert Prevost, the first American pope, also called for the revitalization of multilateral diplomacy and the promotion of dialogue between religions in the pursuit of peace, in his first meeting with the Vatican diplomatic corps.
The audience was private, but the Vatican released the text of Leo XIV.
The meeting is one of the protocol demands after a conclave, allowing the new Pope to greet representatives of world governments before his formal installation mass on Sunday, 18.
The Holy See is a sovereign state under international law, has diplomatic relations with more than 180 countries and enjoys the status of observer in the United Nations.
Leo XIV, a member of the Agostinian religious order, has emphasized peace as a priority of his pontificate, from the first words he spoke on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after his election on May 8: “Peace is with all of you.”
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In his observations, he said that the search for peace was one of the pillars of the papacy. And he insisted that peace is not only the absence of conflict, but a “gift” that requires work, from the end of weapons production to the careful choice of words. “For words too, not just weapons, can hurt and even kill.”
He said it is up to governments to build peaceful societies “especially investing in the family, based on the stable union between a man and a woman.”
“Moreover, no one is exempt from striving to ensure respect for each person’s dignity, especially the most fragile and vulnerable, from the unsuccessful to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants equally,” he said.
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During his pontificate, Pope Francis reaffirmed the Catholic central teaching opposing abortion and euthanasia, saying that they were evidence of today’s “culture of discard”.
But he also made a point of reaching LGBTQia+Catholics, insisting that they are welcome in the church. He did not change the doctrine of the Church that defines marriage as a union between man and woman and homosexual acts as “intrinsically disordered.”
As then head of the Agostinian Order, PREVOST, in 2012, criticized the “homosexual lifestyle” and the role of mass media in promoting the acceptance of same -sex relationships that conflicted with Catholic doctrine. A decade later, during the pontificate of Francis, he recognized Bergoglio’s call to a more inclusive church, and said he didn’t want people to be excluded only on their lifestyle.
