VATICAN CITY: The Vatican is sending new signals about how it wants to serve LGBTQ+ Catholics in the Pope Leo XIV era, with signs of openness and boundaries after a remarkable welcome by Pope Francis during his 12-year papal tenure.Catholic LGBTQ+ advocates rejoiced this week when a Vatican working group released a report featuring the testimony of two gay, married Catholics who spoke about their sexuality, faith and how the church’s negative teaching has harmed them. Leo recently clarified during a press conference that he believes the Church’s teachings on social justice, equality and freedom are more important than its teachings on sexual morality.However, at the same conference, Leo indicated that he would not overrule Francis on the controversial matter of homosexual blessings. The Vatican has recently reiterated its opposition to any local efforts to deviate from the Holy See’s stance. The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit who has led the church’s outreach to the LGBTQ+ community in the U.S., said, “If the Catholic Church begins to listen to LGBTQ Catholics as part of its functioning, the Church has already moved forward in significant ways.”But the signs have prompted criticism from conservatives, who have balked at official Catholic teaching that homosexuality is “intrinsically disordered.”The report by a Vatican working group summarizes the work of experts studying controversial topics that have emerged after Francis’ years-long reform effort. The report has no binding value.The testimony, included in attachments published on the Vatican’s synod website, described how a man sometimes struggled with his faith because of insensitive comments from a Catholic spiritual director and “conversion therapy.” The second testimony, from an American, said, “My sexuality is not a deformity, disorder or cross; it is a gift from God.”