Lutheran Archbishop of Latvia: There is a place in the Church even for LGBT

Archbishop of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Rinalds Grants. Photo: Edijs Pālens/LETA

On 20 September 2025, Archbishop Rinalds Grants of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church (LELC) said in an interview with TV24 that the Church must be open to everyone, including homosexual people, Otkrito.lv reported.

“If a person is seeking God and wants support, then their place is in the Church. And it does not matter what that person’s sexual orientation is,” the Archbishop emphasized.

At the same time, speaking about abortion, Grants took a firm stance. According to him, the right to life is a sacred value and cannot be subject to human choice. “We ourselves might not be here, because our parents too could have had reasons to fear and reject this gift of life. I do not know who else could speak for these unborn children if not the Church,” the Archbishop said.

It should be noted that Archbishop Rinalds Grants has served as head of the LELC since 8 June 2025. The new Archbishop is a former criminal investigator with the police and worked at the Latvian office of Interpol.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Vice President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference called to “restore dignity” to homosexual Catholics and spoke of the blessing of Pope Leo.

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