Gay Catholics expressed disappointment with the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as pope, saying the conservative theologian was almost certain to mean their continued estrangement from the mainstream church.
Pope Benedict has been a flash point for controversy between liberal and conservative Catholics. As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he in 1986 issued a Vatican denunciation of homosexuality and gay marriage.
That came during the reign of Pope John Paul II, when the Vatican preached that gays should be treated with compassion but made clear it absolutely opposed gay sex and called homosexuality a disorder.
"Gay and lesbian Catholics are going to be very hurt by this election because Cardinal Ratzinger was the lighting rod for so much of the anger they felt under the previous pope," said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of the US New Ways Ministry, after the German prelate was elected Pope Benedict XVI.
"We are very disappointed that the cardinals chose someone whose hallmark seems to be doctrinal authority," he said.
Matt Foreman, executive director of the US National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called Cardinal Ratzinger the driving force behind a long string of pronouncements using the term "evil" to describe gay people, homosexuality, and marriage equality.
"Someday, the church will apologize to gay people as it has to others it has oppressed in the past," Mr Foreman said. "I very much doubt that this day will come during this pope's reign. In fact, it seems inevitable that this pope will cause even more pain and give his successors even more for which to seek atonement."
Another group said it had not expected a change in the church's view of homosexuality, no matter which cardinal was chosen.
"We didn't have misconceptions that whoever won this election would all of the sudden be a marvelous change for us," said Sam Sinnett, national president of DignityUSA, a group of gay Catholics which conducts its own services. "We have to be realistic about this."