Taking One Rainbow Step at a Time

By: ArcRomero

Cartoon by: Ace

In a chapel cloaked with centuries of incense and religious beliefs, the whispered prayers of the faithful once drowned out any voice that didn’t fit the mold of tradition. But lately, something astonishing has begun to stir and shine through; the doors of the Church—long sealed to many queer individuals—are creaking open. The shift isn’t seismic yet. It’s more like sunlight dripping through an old, heavy wooden door. It's surreal, but it is real.

Throughout the Roman Catholic Church’s long history with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) community, pain, and rejection were often part of the daily experience. From excommunication to conversion therapy, the pews were more often places of judgment than of refuge. In the present day, a new dialect of compassion emerged from the Vatican, and at its helm stood an unlikely prophet: the late Pope Francis.

In 2013, the world paused when Pope Francis, flying home from Brazil, was asked about gay priests. His reply “Who am I to judge?” echoed louder than the jet engines. It didn’t change the doctrine—but it changed everything else. For many queer Catholics, it offered long-denied recognition and relief. Since then, Pope Francis continued to scatter seeds of mercy across dogmatic soil, blessing same-sex couples in civil unions, advocating for their dignity, and calling for pastoral care instead of exclusion.

Indeed, he did not rewrite Catechism, but he rewrote the conversation.

He shaped what’s whispered during homilies, what’s taught in seminaries, and what’s finally said aloud around dinner tables. LGBTQ+ youth, once torn between loving God and loving themselves, now find a flicker of reconciliation. It’s not yet a roaring fire—but it warms the soul enough to keep going.

As the late pope’s legacy gently fades into the pages of history, this is where hope stretches beyond the present pontiff.

With the recent appointment of Pope Leo XIV, the LGBTQ+ community now awaits a sign that will solidify where the new pope’s stand lies. One entire community hopes for the new head of the Church to be not just one who merely tolerates, but one who celebrates. Not one who blesses unions from the margins, but one who marries love in the full light of day. A pope who leads not with cautious mercy, but with bold justice. If Pope Francis thawed the frozen and old beliefs, Pope Leo XIV must be the spring that brings something new. Because the Church is not just a hierarchy. It is its people. And the people are changing.

Let history show that this was the century when the Church—slow-moving, stubborn, sacred—finally began to walk with all its children. May the footsteps of Pope Francis echo far enough for Pope Leo XIV to hear.

And then perhaps one day, no child will ever have to choose between their faith and their truth. Because in the end, isn’t that what the Church is meant to be? A home not for the perfect—but for the pilgrim.