Vatican plans its first ever LGBTQ+ pilgrimage

The is planning its inaugural pilgrimage specifically for LGBTQ+ Christians, their families, and supporters during the 2025 Jubilee, a significant Holy Year that occurs only once every fifty years. This landmark event is part of a series of recent gestures by Pope Francis, leader of the Catholic Church, in support of LGBTQ+ communities.

The pilgrimage, titled ‘Church: Home for All, LGBT+ Christians and Other Existential Frontiers,’ is scheduled for September 6, 2025. It will feature a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City (the Catholic Church’s sovereign enclave in Rome, Italy), a prayer vigil for LGBTQ+ community members and their families at Il Gesù church (founded in 1584), and a celebratory mass led by Bishop Francesco Savino, Vice-President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference.

According to ‘LGBTQ Nation’, the event will be directed by Tenda di Gionata, an Italian gay rights organisation promoting understanding and acceptance of homosexual individuals within society and the churches, as reported by The Catholic Herald. In its past activities, the group has depicted Jesus Christ with a rainbow halo or in front of a rainbow flag, portraying him as a transgender person.

The pilgrimage idea was reportedly initiated by Pino Piva, a Jesuit from Bologna who has supported LGBTQ+ individuals over recent years, according to the Roman newspaper Il Messaggero. Despite facing “internal resistance” from Holy Year organisers, the pilgrimage has reportedly received Pope Francis’s approval.

Although the Vatican’s official calendar of events has yet to reflect this pilgrimage, it reportedly has the backing of Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the coordinator of Holy Year preparations, and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference.

This event is among many pro-LGBTQ+ gestures by Pope Francis and the Church.

Pope Francis has criticised church leaders for being overly focused on divisive matters such as homosexuality. He advised U.S.A. bishops to tone down anti-gay rhetoric and likened homophobic attitudes to Nazism. He also indicated potential support for same-sex unions, asserted that celibate gay priests should serve, and met with other LGBTQ+ advocates. Reportedly, he told one individual that God made him gay and offered financial support to a group of transgender sex workers. He has denounced anti-LGBTQ+ conservatives, removed an anti-LGBTQ+ priest from the church, and criticised Uganda’s harsh anti-gay legislation.

In January, he condemned laws criminalising homosexuality as “unjust” and emphasised that God loves all individuals as they are. He urged Catholic bishops to embrace LGBTQ+ people. In 2020, he mentioned that countries should acknowledge civil unions for same-sex couples, stating they “have a right to a family.”

However, Pope Francis has also conveyed that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions as they are considered a “sin,” suggested that gay priests are following a trend and should “leave the ministry,” advised bishops to dismiss applicants to the priesthood suspected of being gay, claimed gay couples do not constitute families, supported U.S.A. clerks denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples, proposed parents seek therapy for their gay children, argued that transgender individuals would “annihilate the concept of nature,” and advised against transgender youth pursuing gender-affirming medical care. He has also used anti-gay slurs in meetings, though he later apologised for those remarks.