Pope Leo meets with James Martin, calls for welcoming LGBTQ Catholics days after radical trans attack on US Catholic school

Pope Leo met with a prominent US priest on Monday who ministers to LGBTQ Catholics, with the priest telling Reuters that Pope Leo’s approach to LGBTQ Catholics is a "continuation of Pope Francis’ legacy." This comes less than a week after a trans-identified male carried out a mass shooting at a Catholic school in Minnesota, resulting in the deaths of two children.

"It was very consoling and very encouraging," Rev. James Martin told Reuters. "I heard the same message from Pope Leo that I heard from Pope Francis about welcoming LGBTQ people."

Monday’s meeting, held at the Vatican’s apostolic palace, was part of the pope’s official schedule that included other meetings with cardinals and bishops. The meeting lasted around half an hour, Martin said.

"He wants everyone in the church to feel welcome," Martin, who leads an online news site for LGBTQ Catholics and was the author of a 2017 book on how Catholic leaders should engage with the community, said of Pope Leo. "His approach to LGBTQ Catholics is a continuation of Pope Francis' legacy."

The meeting comes less than a week after trans-identified male Robert "Robin" Westman opened fire at Annunciation Catholic Church and school in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday, killing two students while they were in their first mass of the school year.

Over a dozen others were injured in the shooting. In writings left behind by the gunman, who took his life, Westman wrote that "Gender and weed f*cked up my head," and that he regretted transitioning. Westman was reportedly linked to online dark extremist groups such as 764 and the Order of the Nine Angels, which contain satanic and nihilistic themes.

In the wake of the shooting, Pope Leo said, "Let us plead [to] God to stop the pandemic of arms large and small which infects our world."