Pope Leo XIV said on the papal plane April 23 that the Holy See does not approve of formalized blessings of same-sex couples, while stressing that Church unity "should not revolve around sexual matters" and that all people are welcome in the Catholic Church.

The pope made the remarks during a wide-ranging press conference on the return flight from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, to Rome, where the papal plane touched down after 7:15 p.m. local time. Speaking in English, Spanish and Italian, Pope Leo answered five questions from journalists ranging from regime change in Iran to the dignity of migrants, in which the pope affirmed countries' rights to enforce their border laws, while underlining that migrants are human beings who should not be treated like "animals."

The press conference concluded an 11-day, 18-flight apostolic journey of more than 11,000 miles through Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, by far the longest trip of his pontificate.

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Pope Leo was asked about a decision by German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the archbishop of Munich and Freising, to authorize the blessing of same-sex couples in his archdiocese the day prior, and how the pope intended to preserve unity in the global Church in light of it.

"First of all, I think it's very important to understand that the unity or division of the Church should not revolve around sexual matters," Pope Leo said. "We tend to think that when the Church is talking about morality, that the only issue of morality is sexual, and in reality, I believe there are much greater and more important issues, such as justice, the equality, freedom of men and women, freedom of religion, that would all take priority before that particular issue."

The pope said the Holy See had already communicated its position to the German bishops.

"The Holy See has made it clear that we do not agree with the formalized blessing of couples, in this case homosexual couples, as you ask, or couples in irregular situations," he said.

Pope Leo drew a distinction between those formalized blessings and the general blessings "allowed for by Pope Francis in saying, 'All people receive blessings.'"

"When a priest gives a blessing at the end of Mass, when the pope gives a blessing at the end of a large celebration, like such we had today, there are blessings of all people," he explained, referring to the Mass celebrated that morning in Equatorial Guinea.

Pope Leo went on to say that Pope Francis' "well-known expression of 'Tutti, tutti, tutti'" -- meaning "everyone, everyone, everyone" -- is "an expression of the Church's belief that all are welcome, all are invited."

"All are invited to follow Jesus, and all are invited to look for conversion in their lives," Pope Leo said. "To go beyond that today, I think that the topic can cause more disunity than unity, and that we should look for ways to build our unity upon Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ teaches."

Pope Leo also spoke forcefully on the issue of migration, affirming that states have the right to enforce their borders while insisting that the dignity of migrants must be respected.

"I personally believe that a state has the right to set rules for its borders," he said. "I'm not saying that everyone should be allowed to enter indiscriminately, sometimes creating situations even more unjust in the places they arrive at than those they left behind."

He went on to underline that migrants "are human beings, and we must treat human beings humanely -- not treat them worse than household pets, animals."

The pope was responding to a question about African migration to Spain, an issue he is expected to address during a planned visit to the country June 6–12. That trip will conclude on the Canary Islands, the Spanish archipelago that serves as the primary Atlantic entry point for migrants crossing from West Africa.

Pope Leo challenged wealthier nations to address the root causes of migration rather than focusing solely on border enforcement.

"What is the Global North doing to help the Global South and those countries where young people today cannot find a future?" he asked.

"For many people, Africa is seen as a place to go to extract minerals and take its resources for the benefit of others in other countries," he said.

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"Perhaps on a global level we need to work much harder to promote greater justice and equality in the development of these African countries so that there is no need to emigrate to Spain, etc.," he underlined.

On the Iran war, Pope Leo called for continued dialogue and the protection of innocent civilians, sharing a personal detail to underscore the war's human toll.

"I carry with me a photo of a Muslim child who, during my visit to Lebanon, was waiting there with a sign saying 'Welcome Pope Leo'; he was killed in this last part of the war," he said.

"The issue of Iran is clearly very complex," Pope Leo said. "In the very negotiations they're trying to conduct, one day Iran says yes, the United States says no, and vice versa, and we don't know where it's headed."

"It has created a chaotic and critical situation for the global economy, and then there's also the entire population in Iran, innocent people who are suffering because of this war," he added.

A journalist also pressed the pope to condemn Iran's ongoing execution of political opponents. According to the Associated Press, Iran executed another member of the exiled opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq that morning, the ninth such execution since the fighting began.

Iranian authorities executed more than 2,000 people in 2025, the highest annual toll since the late 1980s, according to the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran.

"I condemn all actions that are unjust. I condemn the taking of people's lives. I condemn capital punishment," Pope Leo said, adding that life should be protected from conception to natural death. "When a regime, when a country, takes decisions which takes away the lives of other people unjustly, then obviously that is something that should be condemned."

Pope Leo also defended the Holy See's practice of maintaining diplomatic relations with authoritarian governments, saying there is work in the background that promotes justice and humanitarian efforts.

The question arose in the context of his meetings on the trip with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, who has ruled since seizing power in a 1979 coup, and 93-year-old President Paul Biya of Cameroon, who has governed for more than four decades.

"We don't always make great proclamations, criticizing, judging or condemning. But there's an awful lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to promote justice, to promote humanitarian causes, to look for, at times, situations where there may be political prisoners and finding a way for them to be freed," Pope Leo said.

"The Holy See, by maintaining, if you will, a neutrality ... (is) actually trying to find a way to apply the Gospel to concrete situations, so that the lives of people can be improved," he said.

Before taking questions, Pope Leo reflected on the journey itself, noting that while interest in the trip tends to focus on political questions, the primary purpose of an apostolic trip is to be close to the people of God.

"The trip is to be interpreted above all as an expression of the desire to proclaim the Gospel, to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ, and it is a way to draw near to the people in their joy, in the depth of their faith, but also in their suffering," he said.

At the end of his final Mass on the continent earlier that day, the pope offered a closing reflection on what Africa had given him.

"I leave Africa with an immeasurable treasure of faith, hope and charity: a great treasure consisting of stories, faces and testimonies, both joyful and sorrowful, which will greatly enrich my life and ministry as the Successor of Peter," he said.

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"As in the early centuries of the Church, Africa today is called to make a decisive contribution to the holiness and the missionary character of the Christian people."

(Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News.)