Religion · Nationwide · August 25, 2026
New Ways Ministry: Pope Leo's Bishop Picks Favor LGBTQ Outreach
New Ways Ministry, a Catholic LGBTQ advocacy outlet, reports that several of Pope Leo's 2026 bishop appointments share a record of LGBTQ ministry outreach, citing analysis from Christopher Hale's Substack "Letters from Leo." Named appointments include Archbishop James Checchio, moved to lead the Archdiocese of New Orleans after prior LGBTQ outreach in Metuchen, New Jersey; Bishop Ramon Bejarano, installed in Monterey, California, after supporting LGBTQ ministry as San Diego's auxiliary bishop; Fr. Thomas Hennen, named Bishop of Baker, Oregon, after a decade in LGBT ministry; and Auxiliary Bishop Christian Wurtz, appointed to Eichstätt, Germany, where he has backed Synodal Way resolutions favoring blessings for same-sex couples. The article also notes an unopposed 2025 Jubilee pilgrimage by 1,200 LGBT Catholics through St. Peter's Holy Door. Hale argues these appointments will shape Vatican-wide "evaluation assemblies" beginning in 2027 and culminating in a 2028 Ecclesial Assembly presided over by Leo, where LGBTQ issues are expected to be prominent.
Source: New Ways Ministry
Why Bible-Believing Christians Should Care
This is Catholic reporting about Catholic institutional appointments, not a claim about biblical Christianity — Rome's magisterium, sacraments, and papal authority already place it outside the gospel this publication holds as authoritative. But the pattern matters for discernment: it shows how doctrinal change is often accomplished not by open declaration but by placing sympathetic leaders in seats of authority years before formal votes occur, so that outcomes are decided by who is 'in the room' long before assemblies convene. Bible-believing Christians watching any institution — Catholic or Protestant — should recognize this appointment strategy and measure any teaching on sexuality, not by institutional reputation, but against Scripture's own words.
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. — Leviticus 18:22
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From the book
Capture begins decades before a crisis becomes visible in the pew. It begins in the seminary. Activists understand a strategic reality that conservatives routinely ignore: whoever trains the clergy controls the future. By prioritizing academic theology, activists introduced critical theories under the banner of broadening the conversation. That produced a leadership pipeline in which the credentialed class held a theology fundamentally different from the theology of the people in the pews.
— Chapter 17, “The Mechanics of Capture”
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