Historic pilgrimage for LGBTQ+ Catholics in the Vatican

Some 1,400 Catholics who wear rainbow clothing and transport crosses are taking part in the first LGBTQ+ LGBTQ pilgrimage officially recognized in Rome as part of the Vatican Jubilee year.

Coming from 20 countries, pilgrims are attending vigils of prayer, masses and other activities this weekend, although they will not have a private public with Pope Leo XIV.

His predecessor Pope Francis, who died in April, did not change the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church as regards the LGBTQ+ community – but made openings in a decree in 2023.

These included allowing priests to bless couples of the same sex, a move that made Catholic conservatives angry, in particular in Africa.

Saturday, the members of the LGBTQ+ community entered the Basilica of San Pietro through his Santa Porta – a procession that symbolizes reconciliation.

The door opens only once every 25 years to celebrate the years of the Jubilee of the Roman Catholic Church.

“Not only the LGBTQ people Marciano and walk to say that they are part of the Church, but the official institutions of the Church are welcoming them and help them tell their stories”, Francis Debernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry was mentioned.

The Ministry helps to support the LGBTQ+ community within the Catholic Church.

About 32 million pilgrims should take to the Vatican this year for the Jubilee celebrations.

Pope Leo, who was elected in May, has not yet publicly faced the LGBTQ+community.

Even the American Pontiff did not comment on the 2023 decree of his predecessor.

In 2020, Pope Francis said that “homosexual people have the right to be in a family”.

“They are children of God … nobody should be thrown out or made unhappy on it,” he said.

Three years later, Francis allowed the priests to bless couples of the same sex and “irregular”, in certain circumstances.

But the Vatican said that these blessings should not be part of the normal rituals of the Church or linked to civil unions or marriages.

He added that he continued to see the marriage between a man and a woman. [BBC]

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