Father James Martin is well known for his outreach work from within the Catholic Church, including his book Building A Bridge in which he calls for Catholics to show more respect and compassion to the LGBTQ+ community.
He has also made several appearances on Stephen Colbert’s late night TV show and was appointed by the late Pope Francis as a consultant to the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communications.
In a post to social media, Fr Martin said he was “honoured and grateful to meet with the Holy Father in an audience in the Apostolic Palace”.
He added that he was “moved to hear the same message I heard from Pope Francis on LGBTQ Catholics, which is one of openness and welcome”.
Fr Martin added that he “found Pope Leo to be serene, joyful, and encouraging”.
“For me, it was a deeply consoling meeting. Please pray for the Holy Father!”
The Vatican had announced that the private 30-minute audience was taking place, which is seen as a signal that Pope Leo wanted the meeting to be known about.
However, the Vatican didn’t provide details of the meeting.
The meeting came just days after it was confirmed that Outreach, a group for LGBT Catholics, will take part in a Jubilee Year event at the Vatican on 6 September.
In an article on the Outreach website, Fr Martin said Leo’s priorities are to “help the process of peace and unity in places like Ukraine, Gaza and Myanmar, among others”.
“So while LGBTQ issues are on his radar, other things may be more pressing for the time being,” said Fr Martin.
“And even when addressing LGBTQ issues, he may not move as fast as some might like. By the same token, he may move far too fast for others.
“But my overall sense is that he ‘gets it’ and that he is ready to continue Francis’s legacy of openness, and that is surely good news.”
He added that Leo “encouraged me to continue with my ministry” and that he offered the pope a five-step plan to welcome LGBTQ+ Catholics into the Church.
Fr Martin had a close relationship with Francis and was chosen by the late pope as one of participants in a historic Synod which allowed laypeople and women to have a vote for the first time.
The Synod also put out in the open some hot button issues within this Church, such as the place of LGBTQ+ people within the Church and whether women should be ordained, though these topics have since been sent out to study groups to consider.
The new pope, who was then Cardinal Robert Prevost, also took part in the Synod.
Fr Martin previously told The Journal that Francis did more for the LGBT community within the Church than any other pope in history.
Among other things, Fr Martin pointed to the fact that Francis formally allowed priests to bless same-sex couples under certain circumstances, and how Fracis affirmed that transgender people can be baptised into the Church and act as Godparents.
Elsewhere, Francis also marked 2023 World Day of the Poor by welcoming a group of transgender women to a luncheon at the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall.
Transgender people and prisoners were also among the small group who gave Francis his final farewell prior to his burial in Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore in April.
Fr Martin later told the Associated Press that Leo expressed in the meeting that there would be a “continuation” of Francis’s “pastoral” approach to the LGBT community.
“My sense from knowing him a little bit at the Synod was that he’s a very open, welcoming, inclusive person, so I wasn’t too worried.
“But it’s wonderful to hear this continuation.”
He added: “If people were happy with Pope Francis’s approach to LGBTQ Catholics, they’re going to be happy with Pope Leo’s approach.”
However, the meeting has angered some conservative Catholics online.
One news site claimed that Fr Martin had used the off-the-record meeting to “tie” Leo’s hands by “telling the world what the Pope allegedly said in private conversations”.
Another Vatican correspondent claimed that Fr Martin presented to Leo an “alternate catechism that is a rejection of Catholic teaching.”
Others have sought to cast doubt on Fr Martin’s telling of the meeting while one prominent account on X said that “we will resist Leo to his face if we must”.
Elsewhere, the co-founder of LifeSite claimed that “things are “upside down” when Fr Martin is invited to the Vatican.
LifeSiteNews is a Catholic conservative publication, and was previously hit with a Facebook ban for spreading Covid-19 conspiracies.
Meanwhile, Leo opted to meet with Fr Martin on Monday over meeting with Trump’s pick for Ambassador to the Holy See.
Trump appointed Brian Burch for this role – Burch was co-founder of an organisation called Catholic Vote, which is highly critical of Pope Francis.
Usually, ambassadors would be received by the pope when they arrive at the Vatican with the letters of credentials, but rather than meeting with Leo, Burch instead met with the Substitute for the Secretary of State, a role similar to a papal chief of staff.
Upon being elected as pope, Laura Loomer, a far-right conspiracy theorist who was reported to have advised US president Donald Trump on national security decisions, declared Leo to be a “WOKE MARXIST POPE”.