The Magisterium (Pope and Bishops) use scripture and tradition to assess what Catholics should do, and this is then written into the Catechism, the official book of church teaching. The Catechism states that LGBTQ+ people ‘are to be accepted with sensitivity, compassion and respect and any sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.’ (2358) Students could consider what scripture has provided this reasoning for the church's stance on LGBTQ+ people (Genesis Chapters 1 & 2, Leviticus 18:22, Deuteronomy 22:5).

This video shows how catechism teachings were practised during the papacy of John Paul II (1965-2005) and Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013). It highlights the shift from dogma and admonishing those who pastorally supported LGBTQ+ Catholics to the papacy of Pope Francis (2013-), who has changed the language and pastoral ministry to reflect a more inclusive environment. You could ask students to list the differences between these two approaches, giving specific examples of how Pope Francis has been more encouraging.

This article is included in a new documentary series where the Pope is asked tough questions about inclusion and more. In particular, he speaks to a young non-binary teen who asks about room in the Church for gender and sexual diversity. Pope Francis tells the young person that: everyone is a child of God; he has a duty to make sure the Church is excluding no one, and those who use the Bible against LGBTQ+ people and inclusion are ‘infiltrators who take advantage of the Church for their personal passions, for their personal narrowness’. You could ask students to discuss how we could ensure everyone in the Church feels like a child of God and how open-mindedness could be encouraged.

In this video (15 mins 42 secs in), George White interviews Fr James Martin SJ, a public advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Catholic Church and has been commended for this work by Pope Francis. They explore reasons why and ways to be inclusive. There are three general areas where Fr Martin suggests schools take the lead: 1. Listen to the stories of LGBTQ+ people and use the language that they do; 2. Celebrate with LGBTQ+ Catholics on their journey by celebrating events like Pride month when the focus is on human dignity, and 3. Advocate for universal LGBTQ+ rights by supporting the decriminalisation of LGBTQ+ people and their relationships around the world. You could ask students to create ideas about how they might put these into practice in your school, focusing in particular on teaching 2358 of the Catechism mentioned earlier.

The Church's view on homosexuality is discussed by members of the LGBTQ+ community.