VATICAN CITY (AP) 鈥 Hundreds of LGBTQ+ Catholics and their families participated in a Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome on Saturday, celebrating a new level of acceptance in the Catholic Church after long feeling shunned and crediting Pope Francis with the change.
The vice president of the Italian bishops conference, Bishop Franceseco Savino, celebrated Mass for the pilgrims in a packed Chiesa del Gesu, the main Jesuit church in Rome. He received a standing ovation in the middle of his homily when he recalled that in the Bible, Jubilee years were meant to forgive debts and restore hope to those on the margins.
“The Jubilee was the time to free the oppressed and restore dignity to those who had been denied it,” he said. 鈥淏rothers and sisters, I say this with emotion: It is time to restore dignity to everyone, especially to those who have been denied it.鈥
Several LGBTQ+ groups participated in the pilgrimage, which was listed in the Vatican鈥檚 official calendar of events for the Holy Year, the once-every-quarter century celebration of Catholicism. Vatican organizers stressed that the listing in the calendar didn’t signal endorsement or sponsorship.
The main organizer of the pilgrimage was an Italian LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, 鈥淛onathan鈥檚 Tent,鈥 but it also included Outreach, a U.S. group founded by the Rev. James Martin, a prominent Jesuit priest who has advocated for greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ Catholics in the church.
Pope Leo XIV celebrated a special Jubilee audience Saturday at the Vatican for all pilgrim groups in Rome this weekend, but made no special mention of the LGBTQ+ Catholics, who were scheduled to walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter鈥檚 Basilica later in the day.
A legacy of LGBTQ+ acceptance
Many of the pilgrims attributed their feeling of welcome to Francis. More than any of his predecessors, Francis worked to make the Catholic Church a more welcoming place for LGBTQ+ Catholics. From his 2013 quip, 鈥淲ho am I to judge?鈥 about a purportedly gay priest, to his decision to allow priests to , Francis distinguished himself with his message of welcome.
He never changed church teaching saying homosexual acts are 鈥渋ntrinsically disordered.鈥 But during his 12-year papacy from 2013 to 2025, Francis met with LGBTQ+ advocates, ministered to a community of trans women and, in a declared that 鈥渂eing homosexual is not a crime.鈥
John Capozzi of Washington D.C., who was participating in the pilgrimage with his husband, Justin del Rosario, said Francis鈥 attitude brought him back to the church after he left it in the 1980s, at the height of the AIDS crisis. Then, he said, he felt shunned by his fellow Catholics.
鈥淭here was that feeling like I wasn鈥檛 welcome in the church,鈥 he said. 鈥淣ot because I was doing anything, just because I was who I was,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t was this fear of going back in because of the judgment.鈥
But Francis, who insisted that the Catholic Church was open to everyone, 鈥渢odos, todos, todos,鈥 changed all that, he said.
鈥淚 was a closeted Catholic,鈥 Capozzi said. 鈥淲ith Pope Francis, I was able to come out and say, 鈥橦ey, you know, I am Catholic and I鈥檓 proud of it and I want to be part of the church.鈥
A message of welcome and hope
Capozzi spoke during a standing room-only vigil service for the pilgrims Friday night at the Jesuit church. The service featured testimonies from gay couples, the mother of a trans child and a moving reflection by an Italian priest, the Rev. Fausto Focosi.
鈥淥ur eyes have known the tears of rejection, of hiding. They have known the tears of shame. And perhaps sometimes those tears still spring from our eyes,鈥 Focosi said. 鈥淭oday, however, there are other tears, new tears. They wash away the old ones.鈥
鈥淎nd so today these tears are tears of hope,鈥 he said.
Leo’s position comes into focus
Leo鈥檚 position on LGBTQ+ Catholics had been . Soon after he was elected in May, remarks surfaced from 2012 in which the future pope, then known as the Rev. Robert Prevost, criticized the 鈥渉omosexual lifestyle鈥 and the role of mass media in promoting acceptance of same-sex relationships that conflicted with Catholic doctrine.
When he became a cardinal in 2023, Catholic News Service asked Prevost if his views had changed. He for a more inclusive church, saying Francis 鈥渕ade it very clear that he doesn鈥檛 want people to be excluded simply on the basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to dress, or whatever.鈥
Leo , the American Jesuit, in an official audience in a sign he wanted the encounter made public. Martin emerged saying Leo told him he intended to continue Pope Francis鈥 policy of LGBTQ+ acceptance in the church and encouraged him to keep up his advocacy.
鈥淚 heard the same message from Pope Leo that I heard from Pope Francis, which is the desire to welcome all people, including LGBTQ people,鈥 Martin told The Associated Press after the audience.
Savino said he too had received Leo’s blessing to celebrate the Mass for the LGBTQ+ pilgrims.
Del Rosario, Capozzi鈥檚 husband, said he too now felt welcome after long staying away from the faith he was raised in.
鈥淧ope Francis influenced me to return back to church. Pope Leo only strengthened my faith,鈥 he said.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
