The Catholic hosts of ABC’s “The View” made it clear on Friday that they would have been much happier with a new Pope who was less … Catholic — and said they were particularly concerned over his previous support for a Biblical view of marriage.
Just one day after the white smoke appeared above the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican — and the announcement that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, originally from Chicago, would become Pope Leo XIV — the cohosts gathered around the table to discuss their concerns about what he might support as pontiff.
Sunny Hostin has always touted her “devout” Catholic faith, despite her own support for social issues that are not embraced by the church, such as abortion and LGBTQ+ issues, and she immediately voiced concerns that Pope Leo XIV might take a Biblical view of marriage and the LGBTQ+ community.
“I’m a little concerned about this choice for the LGBTQ+ community. In 2012, he gave an address to bishops, and he lamented ‘the popular culture fostered and sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel.’ And that’s a quote,” she complained. “And then he cited the homosexual lifestyle and alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”
Hostin then went on to praise the late Pope Francis for making “great changes in terms of embracing the LGBTQ+ community,” and said that it was her hope that Pope Leo XIV would not “roll back” those changes.
WATCH:
Purported “devout Catholic” Sunny Hostin fears Pope Leo XIV because of he believes marriage is between a man and a woman:
“I’m a little concerned about this choice for the LGBTQ+ community. In 2012 he gave an address to bishops, and he lamented ‘the popular culture fostered and… pic.twitter.com/HirlDlUQyq— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 9, 2025
Cohost Ana Navarro, who introduced herself as a “sinful Catholic,” noted that a lot of American politicians had changed their mind about same sex marriage since 2012, when the address Hostin mentioned had taken place, and voiced her hope that Pope Leo XIV had also changed his mind about the conflict between the Catholic Church’s doctrine and popular culture.
“Maybe, you know, with the weight of the papacy and the idea that he just said when he went out on the balcony that the church loves everyone and was inclusive in his first message. So, until we see otherwise, I think we need to pray and hope that he follows in Francis’ footsteps in being inclusive, forgiving, compassionate, welcoming, and speaking up for the marginalized, speaking up for the poor, speaking up for the migrants, speaking up for the targeted, speaking up for all those people that today feel alone.”
WATCH:
Sara Haines, who “grew up presbyterian” and has expressed very hateful anti-Catholic views on the show, tries to smear Leo with accusations she admits are unsupported:
“The Conclave looked past allegations that he had — this pope had mishandled or failed to act on sexual abuse… pic.twitter.com/hLQA2Jl7oI— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 9, 2025
Cohost Sara Haines, who was raised in the Presbyterian Church, echoed the concerns raised by Hostin and Navarro, but then added her own worries over reports that the Catholic Church’s new leader had failed to properly handle allegations of sexual abuse involving other priests in the past.
“The Conclave looked past allegations that he had — this pope had mishandled or failed to act on sexual abuse cases involving priests in both Peru and the United States … so, to know that that could have been looked past is difficult to reconcile for me,” she said.
