Cardinal Robert McElroy has told a prominent Catholic conference for LGBT Catholics that the Church has “frequently wounded the LGBT community through judgmentalism and exclusion”.
The Archbishop of Washington made the remarks during a homily on 20 June at the Outreach Conference, held at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, an annual gathering focused on ministry with LGBT Catholics. He argued that recent developments under Pope Leo XIV and the Synod on Synodality point towards a new approach to pastoral ministry.
Addressing delegates, Cardinal McElroy said two recent developments in the life of the Church were particularly significant. The first, he said, was a comment made by Pope Leo XIV during a visit to Africa in April, when the pontiff stated that “the unity or division in the Church should not revolve around sexual matters”. Reflecting on the Pope’s words, Cardinal McElroy suggested that issues relating to sexual morality had often occupied a disproportionate place in Catholic discourse. “Too often, both in magisterial statements and on the popular level, sexual sins have been condemned with an ardour that effectively places them, in the eyes of many believers, at the core of the moral obligations of Christians,” His Eminence said. The Cardinal added that Pope Leo had instead highlighted “the comparative importance of economic justice, war and peace, immigration and racism as key elements of the Christian moral life”.
The Cardinal said the second significant development was the publication in May of the report produced by Study Group 9, one of the working groups established during the Synod on Synodality process initiated under Pope Francis. Describing the report as “pathbreaking”, Cardinal McElroy focused on what he characterised as a new anthropological approach emerging from the synodal process. “Pastoral practice […] proceeds from the conviction that the concrete situations in which people find themselves are constitutive dimensions of how doctrine should be formed in the light of the kerygma,” the Archbishop of Washington said, arguing that this represented the most important legacy of the late Pope Francis. According to Cardinal McElroy, Francis sought “to reform our conception of pastoral theology and see it as a core element of coming to understand the […] formation of Catholic teaching”.
The Washington archbishop repeated the point later in his address, insisting that pastoral practice should not be viewed merely as the application of pre-existing principles to individual circumstances. “Pastoral practice is not the understanding of how to apply an already formed and often reified set of principles to concrete situations,” he said. “It proceeds from the conviction that the concrete situations in which people find themselves are constitutive dimensions of how doctrine should be formed in the light of the kerygma.”
His homily came a day after he issued a letter welcoming participants to the conference, which opened in the US capital this week. In the message, dated 19 June, Cardinal McElroy linked the gathering both to the legacy of Pope Francis and to developments during the opening phase of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate. “I am delighted to welcome you to the 2026 Outreach Conference here in Washington,” he wrote. “For I know that the Holy Spirit will be profoundly present in our meetings and discussions at this key time in the history of our Church and our nation.”
The Cardinal said the conference was taking place at a moment when “the pastoral foundations laid by Pope Francis for authentic ministry to and with the LGBT community are being deepened and refined by Pope Leo”. He also referred to the recently published report of Study Group 9, describing it as a significant contribution to the Church’s reflection on ministry and holiness. “And the conference comes directly after the release of Study Group 9 of the Synod on Synodality, which places LGBT ministry within a new paradigm that powerfully integrates the experience of faith-filled and diverse disciples as a basis for understanding the call to holiness in all of its concreteness,” he wrote. “This new paradigm points to the true pathway for establishing Todos, Todos, Todos in our Church, ever ancient and ever new.”
The phrase “Todos, Todos, Todos” became widely associated with Pope Francis after he used it repeatedly during World Youth Day in Lisbon in 2023 while emphasising that the Church is open to all. Cardinal McElroy concluded his letter by telling delegates that they would gather for “prayer, thanksgiving and dialogue”. “And God will be in our midst,” the Cardinal wrote.
Cardinal McElroy has long been among the most outspoken senior churchmen in the United States on questions relating to pastoral care for LGBT Catholics. Since his appointment to Washington, he has continued to advocate a more welcoming approach while stressing the importance of dialogue and accompaniment.
The Outreach Conference has become one of the most prominent annual events dedicated to Catholic ministry with LGBT people in the United States. Its programme includes liturgies, keynote addresses, panel discussions and workshops focused on LGBT ministry in the Catholic Church. Topics scheduled for discussion include theology and LGBT Catholics, parish outreach, mental health, Scripture, women in the Church and the experiences of transgender Catholics.
Among the keynote speakers are Kerry Robinson, president and chief executive of Catholic Charities USA, and the Jesuit moral theologian Fr James Keenan. The gathering began on 19 June with a welcome Mass celebrated by Fr Martin and will conclude on 21 June with a commissioning service.
Outreach traces its origins to Fr Martin’s wider ministry to Catholics who identify as LGBT and their families. The initiative emerged from work that followed publication of his 2017 book Building a Bridge, which called for greater dialogue between the Church and LGBT Catholics. Outreach launched formally in 2022 and has since organised conferences, published articles and hosted discussions focused on pastoral accompaniment and inclusion within the life of the Church.
Previous Outreach events received messages of support from Pope Francis, who repeatedly encouraged pastoral outreach and accompaniment for LGBT Catholics and their families. In one message to participants, Pope Francis wrote: “I am glad that Cardinal Gregory will celebrate the Mass; I will be spiritually with him and with all of you, united in prayer.” Pope Francis also told Outreach that God “does not disown any of his children”, while encouraging ministry to LGBT Catholics and their families.
