(LifeSiteNews) — A recent ad supporting Manny Rutinel, a radical pro-abortion and pro-LGBT Democratic member of Colorado’s General Assembly, who is currently running for a pivotal seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, featured the voice and image of Pope Leo XIV, implying the Church’s support despite his opposition to Church teaching.
The 30-second ad supporting Rutinel, run by Big Tech executive Chris Larsen’s “You Can Push Back” Super PAC, opened with Pope Leo reading from his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas on the dangers AI algorithms pose to access to healthcare, employment, and security, and noting Rutinel’s push for the regulation of AI.
Despite his use of the American pontiff’s likeness, Rutinel, who is running for the Democratic nomination to represent Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, has contradicted Church teaching by supporting legislation mandating abortion pills on college campuses and other radical pro-abortion measures, along with supporting LGBT ideology as a member of Colorado’s Assembly.
The Colorado Catholic Conference responded to the ad with an X post explicitly stating that they and the Vatican do not endorse Rutinel’s campaign or any other candidate, citing his horrific record on abortion.
The Catholic Church in Colorado and the Vatican do not endorse @MannyRutinel or any political candidate. The Colorado Catholic Conference, as the united voice of the Catholic Bishops of Colorado, objects to the use of Pope Leo XIV’s image and words to imply endorsement of…
— Colorado Catholic Conference (@cocatholicconf) June 8, 2026
As noted by the Colorado bishops, Rutinel supported HB26-1335, which requires all college campuses, regardless of whether they are public or private institutions, to carry abortion pills. The bill was signed into law in May.
READ: Colorado passes bill mandating abortion pills on college campuses, sends to governor
Rutinel also supported SB25-129, which shields abortionists in Colorado from out-of-state prosecution if a woman crosses state lines to murder their baby in the Centennial State, where abortion is legal up to birth. This bill was signed into law in April.
Indeed, Rutinel proudly champions his support for abortion on his campaign website.
“When it comes to abortion, the government needs to respect Americans’ freedom to make our own decisions about our own families without interference from politicians or anyone else. Politicians have no place in a private medical decision,” his website states.
While it might generally be true that politicians shouldn’t interfere with an individual’s healthcare decisions, abortion, the killing of an unborn child, contrary to Rutinel and other leftists’ claims, is not healthcare, but murder.
Pope Leo has himself affirmed Catholic teaching against abortion. Just this week, the pontiff called on the leftist Spanish Parliament to respect life from conception to its natural death in a speech.
READ: Pope Leo calls on leftist Spanish Parliament to respect life from conception to natural death
Rutinel has also supported homosexual “marriage” and gender ideology. In 2025, the congressional candidate supported SB25-014, which repealed Colorado’s ban on homosexual “marriage,” though this law hadn’t been enforced since the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision.
Rutinel also marked “pride month” in an X post on June 1.
— Manny Rutinel (@MannyRutinel) June 1, 2026
The Catholic Church, which Pope Leo leads, teaches that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law” and that the homosexual inclination is “objectively disordered.” The Catechism is very clear that homosexual activity can never be approved and repeats that “(h)omosexual persons are called to chastity.”
It is possible that Rutinel and his supporters have been confused on the Church’s teaching on homosexual “marriage” by some of Pope Leo’s head-scratching decisions related to these issues. Most notably last fall, the pontiff allowed thousands of so-called “LGBT Catholics” to process into St. Peter’s Basilica led by a rainbow cross, many with their homosexual “partners,” dressed in rainbow colors with some waving “LGBT pride” flags.