Pope Leo XIV in his own words: The pontiff on abortion, climate change, homosexuality, and capital punishment

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV is widely considered to be soft-spoken and cautious — but has not been shy in recent years about speaking out on hot-button issues, from the teaching of gender ideology in schools to climate change. 

Known as Robert Francis Prevost prior to his election Thursday as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, the 69-year-old Chicago native’s views on several controversial topics can be gleaned from past social media posts (and reposts), public remarks and interviews with media outlets. 

Climate change

Like his predecessor, Francis, Leo XIV is a strong believer that the faithful have a responsibility to take care of the planet.

The then-president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops argued in November of last year that it is time to move “from words to action” on the “environmental crisis.”

“Dominion over nature” should not become “tyrannical,” Prevost stressed, arguing that man’s relationship with the environment must be a “relationship of reciprocity,” according to Vatican News.

Prevost further cautioned against the “harmful” environmental impacts of technological development and highlighted the Vatican’s installation of solar panels and use of electric vehicles.

Gender ideology and homosexuality 

While Francis famously told reporters, “Who am I to judge?” gay people and said homosexuals “must be integrated into society,” Leo XIV may be less accommodating.

In a 2012 address to bishops, Prevost accused the news media and popular culture for encouraging “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel,” according to the New York Times.

Among those “beliefs and practices” Prevost cited were the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”

While bishop of Chiclayo in northwestern Peru, Prevost opposed a government initiative to promote gender ideology teachings in schools.”

“The promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist,” he told local news media at the time.

Abortion

On social media, Prevost has expressed strong support for the Catholic Church’s anti-abortion stance. 

In 2015, Prevost posted a photograph from the March For Life rally in Chiclayo, exhorting his followers: “Let’s defend human life at all times!”

Prevost also retweeted a 2017 Catholic News Agency article on New York Archbishop Timothy, Cardinal Dolan condemning abortion at a mass ahead of the March for Life rally in Washington, DC. 

In his homily, Dolan urged Catholics to “reclaim the belief that the mother’s womb is the primal sanctuary, where a helpless, innocent, fragile, tiny baby is safe, secure, nurtured and protected.” 

Capital punishment

Prevost has expressed opposition to capital punishment, reflecting the Catholic Church’s position and Francis’ commitment to see the practice ended worldwide. 

“It’s time to end the death penalty,” he wrote March 5, 2015, in an X post

Euthanasia

In 2016, Prevost reposted a Catholic News Agency article in which citizens of Belgium, where euthanasia is legal, urged Canadians not to support legislation that would allow for assisted suicides. 

“’Don’t go there’ – Belgians plead with Canada not to pass euthanasia law #Prolife,” read the tweet that Prevost shared. 

In the article, Belgian doctors, lawyers, and family members whose loved ones were euthanized argued that assisted suicide threatens the most vulnerable in society and  compromises the doctor-patient relationship.

Gun rights 

In October 2017, Prevost retweeted a call for new US gun control from Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) after a gunman murdered 60 people in Las Vegas.

“To my colleagues: your cowardice to act cannot be whitewashed by thoughts and prayers. None of this ends unless we do something to stop it,” Murphy wrote in the tweet shared by the new pope.