Vatican welcomes LGBTQ group

(MENAFN) The Vatican will host a series of events organized by the LGBTQ community as part of the 2025 Roman Catholic Jubilee. Around 1,000 participants are expected to join a pilgrimage to Rome next week, according to the event’s organizers.

The Jubilee, also known as the Holy Year, is a time of spiritual renewal declared every 25 years by the Pope. The current Jubilee period runs from December 24, 2024, to January 6, 2026.

An Italian pro-LGBTQ group called La Tenda di Gionata (“Jonathan’s Tent”) has arranged the pilgrimage, which will bring together pilgrims from roughly 30 countries. The three-day event will start on September 5 with a multilingual prayer vigil near the Church of Jesus in Rome, followed by a Mass and a procession through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica. The pilgrimage will end on September 7 with the Angelus prayer led by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square.

Bishop Francesco Savino, vice president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, who will preside over the group’s Mass, emphasized that welcoming all people is central to the Church’s mission. “Inclusive welcome is... a posture of the heart and gaze. It is the very breath of the Gospel,” he said.

The Vatican added the pilgrimage to its official Jubilee calendar in December 2024 under Pope Francis, who championed a more inclusive approach within the Church. During his papacy, priests were permitted to bless same-sex couples and allow gay men to enter the priesthood. However, a Vatican official told Reuters that listing the LGBTQ pilgrimage on the Jubilee calendar does not imply official endorsement of the group’s activities.

Pope Francis’ successor, Leo XIV, has voiced reservations about LGBTQ reforms, reaffirming that marriage is “between a man and a woman.” Still, he has maintained Francis’ earlier permission for blessings of same-sex couples.

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