Pope Leo XIV met with members of Courage International on Feb. 6 in what the ministry called a “historic” and “momentous” event that took place in Vatican City.
The Connecticut-based ministry, which for nearly half a century has ministered to Catholics dealing with same-sex attraction, said in a press statement that leaders associated with the group, including Bridgeport Bishop Frank Caggiano and group Executive Director Father Brian Gannon, met with the Holy Father in a private audience.
“The opportunity to share with the Holy Father the works of the apostolate, to provide pastoral accompaniment to persons who experience same-sex attraction but who strive to live chaste lives or to accompany family members who have a loved one who identifies as LGBTQ, was a momentous occasion,” the group said.
Officially founded in 1980, Courage International marked 45 years in 2025 of helping individuals struggling with sexuality to “live a chaste life” in line with Church teaching. Originally founded in Manhattan, the group’s headquarters is based in Bridgeport.
Pope Leo “is very, very supportive of everything that Courage is doing.”
Father Brian GannonExecutive Director, Courage International
Gannon, who came into the leadership role at the organization in 2024, told EWTN News on Feb. 6 that the meeting — the group’s first with a pope — was an “extraordinary gift” from the Holy Father.
“The pope was very gracious, a very good listener,” he said. “We talked about the importance of chastity, how it heals and strengthens and restores the person. The pope was obviously very encouraging.”
The Holy Father in turn “talked about freedom, about what real freedom is —not the unbridled freedom that the world offers, but rather mastering our passions and being in complete surrender to the will of God.”
Gannon said the meeting with Leo constitutes a “huge morale booster” for the group, which has chapters in over a dozen countries and numbers more than 200 chaplains, including through its family support ministry, EnCourage.
“All the members of Courage throughout the whole world will see that the pope extended an audience and listened and is very, very supportive of everything that Courage is doing,” Gannon said, calling the encounter “a huge blessing.”
The priest told EWTN News last year that the organization is a “needed ministry” that “helps people find peace.”
Group members “come together, read through the goals, discuss their experiences and challenges during the week, and pray,” he said. “Prayer is absolutely central to it.”
On Feb. 6, Gannon said, the pope spoke to the group about “the woundedness of people,” and how “Jesus Christ is always with you and you’re never alone.”
Gannon described the group’s mission as helping people to develop self-control in service to Christ. He offered the example of someone who falls into water and is ”thrashing about,” unable to swim.
“The person who learns how to swim is really free, not the person who’s thrashing about,” he said. “You put the passions to good use for the pursuit of God.”
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