On Thursday (8 May) 69-year-old Chicago-born Prevost, who is also a Peruvian citizen, became the 267th pontiff after a two-day papal conclave. He will be known as Pope Leo XIV and is the first American to hold the role of head of the Catholic Church.
Prevost was not considered a frontrunner to be elected as pontiff in the lead-up to the papal conclave. The centrist figure was reportedly close to Pope Francis, who died aged 88 in April following a spell of poor health.
Francis had a complex relationship with the LGBTQ+ community but on the whole was credited with moving certain conversations about LGBTQ+ issues in the Catholic Church forward, as well as softening the church’s language on queer people compared to his predecessors such as with his famous “who am I to judge?” statement. In Prevost, whilst commenting on some social issues – including immigration policies of the Trump Administration and expressing sympathy for the death of George Floyd – he has made much less positive statements about the queer community in the past in the past. However, LGBTQ+ Catholics remain hopeful his “opinions and ideas can change” about LGBTQ+ folks and their place within the church.
Following the announcement that a new Pope had been chosen, a camera panned across a cheering crowd in St Peter’s Square and one couple took the opportunity to make a subtle but powerful statement.
During the short clip, which was subsequently shared to social media platform X/Twitter, spectators can be seen happily waving and moving to get into the camera’s view. In the centre of the image, two men were much more nonchalant and as the camera passed by leaned in to briefly peck each other on the lips.
“Those KINGS saw their opportunity and TOOK IT!,” the account which shared the clip wrote.
Those KINGS saw their opportunity and TOOK IT!#pope #habemuspapam pic.twitter.com/TFyUVw8xrf
— Martin thesundancekydd (@dontcallmekydd) May 8, 2025
Via PinkNews
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