More than 1,000 LGBTQ Catholics, their families and those who minister to them are expected to attend a series of prayer vigils, Masses and other events in Rome next week to commemorate the Jubilee Year that is taking place throughout 2025.
Alessandro Previti, an organizer of the events, which are being hosted by the Italian LGBTQ group, La Tenda di Gionata, told Outreach, “The core objective is to be there, to pray, to pray together and to feel part of the church, to be welcome as we are, for who we are.”
Mr. Previti said organizers expect pilgrims from about 30 countries, who will gather for a multilingual prayer vigil on Sept. 5 near the Church of the Gesù in Rome, the mother church of the Society of Jesus. The next day, pilgrims will congregate inside the church for Mass, which is being celebrated by Bishop Francesco Savino, the vice president of the Italian bishops conference.
“This event, in its deepest essence, is like a bell ringing out in the deafening silence of exclusions, in clear, strong, and irreversible sign reminding us that the Gospel is not a manifesto for chosen few, but a love letter addressed to the whole human family,” Bishop Savino said in a recent interview.
That afternoon, pilgrims will process through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica, a traditional activity for pilgrims during a Jubilee Year.
Cardinal José Cobo, vice president of Spain’s bishops conference, sent a letter earlier this week to the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics, an international LGBTQ Catholic organization that met this week in Madrid and which is sponsoring the Jubilee events.
“In the context of the Jubilee Year, in which the Church opens its doors to those who journey together in hope, I hope that the event you are preparing will help prepare you more deeply to ‘enter the Holy Door’ and that it will lead to a deeper encounter with Christ,” Cardinal Cobo wrote.
(Outreach is leading a group of about 50 pilgrims to take part in the events, and will host a dialogue featuring global LGBTQ Catholic voices, including some from G.N.R.C.)
Jubilee Years, or holy years, traditionally take place every 25 years. Christians are encouraged to pray, repent and partake in pilgrimages. In addition to St. Peter’s Basilica, certain cathedrals and churches throughout the world also open Holy Doors during the Jubilee, including many in the United States.
The Vatican is hosting a number of official events related to the Jubilee throughout 2025, including recent gatherings of young adult Catholics and upcoming events geared toward the recent Synod on Synodality and the poor.
The LGBTQ pilgrimage is listed on the “general calendar” of the Vatican’s official Jubilee website, following controversy last year when it was temporarily deleted from the website.
Mr. Previti said that most of the pilgrimage was planned during the pontificate of Francis, who was known for his outreach to the LGBTQ community. He said he holds hope for Pope Leo XIV, who has said little about his views on LGBTQ issues, as someone who may be able to institutionalize some of Francis’s more spontaneous gestures.
“My feeling is that Pope Leo might be the right person to achieve that, to take all that has been done and give it a more permanent, more durable form,” Mr. Previti said.
