I participated directly in the Synodal Path of the Church in Italy after the presidency of the Italian Bishops Conference invited me to be part of the National Committee of the Synodal Path, precisely because of my commitment to pastoral care for LGBTQ people. Representing this pastoral care were myself and a young LGBTQ Christian.
I feel it is important to recount this journey so that it would be clear that the synodal document, and therefore also the proposals concerning LGBTQ people, are the fruit of the entire Italian church, and not the expression of a few minority groups who would have put forward partisan proposals.
So let me share the extraordinary things that happened.
The Italian Synodal Path began in 2021, after Pope Francis had called for its convocation at the National Ecclesial Convention in Florence in 2015 and then at the General Assembly of Italian Bishops in 2019.
There were three phases to this Synodal Path: “Narrative,” that is, listening to the experiences of Christian communities and synodal groups (about 50,000 throughout Italy); “wisdom,” that is, a wise re-reading of the narratives of life and faith that reached the diocesan and national secretariats; “prophetic,” that is, a time of discernment of concrete perspectives and proposals for the journey of the Italian church in the coming years, to be offered to the Italian Bishops Conference.
More than 500,000 people have been involved in the Italian Synodal Path over the past four years, including synodal groups, workshop groups, and local and national assemblies. There were 400 diocesan delegates who coordinated the process in their respective dioceses. More than 1,000 delegates and bishops (all the Italian bishops) took part in the three national Synodal Assemblies. This widespread process involved all 226 Italian dioceses, making it an unprecedented phenomenon of listening and participation in the recent history of the church in Italy.
All this work of dialogue and discussion, discernment and perspective in this ecclesial process has been brought together in the Synthesis Document of the Italian Synodal Path. A text in 75 points, with more than a hundred concrete proposals, composed of three parts:
- Synodal and Missionary Renewal of Ecclesial Mentality and Practice
- Synodal and Missionary Formation of the Baptized
- Co-responsibility in Mission and Community Leadership
In order to be confirmed, the entire document had to be voted on in its entirety and in its parts during the Third National Synodal Assembly, held in Rome on October 25, 2025. The entire document received the approval of over 95 percent of the approximately 900 delegates (all Italian bishops, diocesan delegates and national committee).
Regarding the “Pastoral Care of Homo-affective and Transgender Persons,” a few proposals were confirmed, five out of over 120 other proposals on many other pastoral issues, all of which were confirmed:
- “That local churches and regional bishops conferences should promote paths of accompaniment, discernment and integration into ordinary pastoral care for those who wish to embark on paths of greater ecclesial integration, but are on the margins of ecclesial and sacramental life because of stable affective and family situations different from the sacrament of marriage, such as divorced and remarried persons, straight cohabiting couples and same-sex unions (95 percent in favor).”
- “That local churches, overcoming the discriminatory attitude sometimes prevalent in ecclesial circles and in society, should commit themselves to promoting the recognition and accompaniment of homoaffective and transgender persons, as well as their parents, who already belong to the Christian community (81 percent in favor).”
- “That the Italian Bishops Conference should support with prayer and reflection the “days” promoted by civil society to combat all forms of violence and show closeness to those who are hurt and discriminated against, such as days against gender violence and discrimination, pedophilia, bullying, femicide, homophobia and transphobia (77 percent in favor).”
- “That local churches, supported by national guidelines and with the contribution of local youth and family ministries, movements, associations, groups, and civil organizations, should initiate, at least at the interdiocesan or ecclesiastical regional level, teams that enhance existing good pastoral practices and coordinate new training courses on relationships and bodily-affectivity-sexuality, including sexual orientation and gender identity, especially for pre-teens, teens, young adults and their educators (85 percent in favor).”
- “That local churches should be vigilant and work to ensure that in the various educational contexts (groups, associations, movements, new communities, seminaries and religious formation courses) there are no forms of psychological, spiritual or conscience abuse, including in the area of sexual orientation (94 percent in favor).”
At this point, both this document and these proposals, widely confirmed by the Italian National Synodal Assembly, are being delivered to the president of the Italian Bishops Conference, which in turn will appoint a group of bishops who will draw up, on the basis of the same document, the priorities, necessary resolutions and pastoral notes that will be at the center of the General Assembly of Italian bishops this month.
This document is the result of the journey of the whole church, and the proposals are the request of the majority of Italian Catholics and Italian bishops, represented in the Synodal Assemblies. Pastoral care for LGBTQ people in Italy is a pastoral care of the church, and is slowly becoming part of ordinary pastoral care, also by the will of the Italian Bishops Conference.
Many Italian dioceses are now asking us to train pastoral workers on these issues, and many dioceses officially organize prayer vigils for victims of homophobia and transphobia.
