ROME — Pope Francis has declared a special Jubilee pilgrimage for homosexuals and all LGBTQ+ people, Italian media announced this weekend.
For the first time, a specific Jubilee event will be dedicated to Catholic homosexuals and LGBT people. noticed Italian daily newspaper, Il Messaggeroeven though the Catholic Church considers homosexual acts to be inherently disordered.
On September 5th, Catholic members of the LGBTQI+ community hosted A wake service was held at the Jesuit Church of the Gesu in central Rome.
The Jubilee 2025 initiative is sponsored by Jonathan's Tent, an Italian pro-LGBTQ organization founded in 2018 by Catholic priest Father David Esposito, and aims to reconcile “homosexuality and faith.”
The news was also welcomed by other LGBT advocacy groups.
“We welcome with applause and enthusiasm any initiative aimed at welcoming LGBTQIA+ people and overcoming the obstacles they encounter in fully exercising their rights, including their spiritual lives. ” said Gabriele Piazzoni, Secretary General of Arcigay.
Nevertheless, Piazzoni added that Catholics still have a long way to go on issues such as gay rights, abortion and euthanasia.
“Catholics remain today the most hostile to the exercise of not just our freedoms but the many freedoms that concern human dignity and bodily self-determination, from end-of-life issues to voluntary abortion.” He is a great politician,” he said. Said.
“And while these remain difficult facts to overcome through pilgrimage, they are welcome and positive in themselves,” he says.
Similarly, GayNet President Rosario Coco suggested that starting with Jubilee, “let's put aside our gender rhetoric and take a clear stand against proselytism practices and the criminalization of homosexuals and transgender people around the world.” did.
“Pope Francis has shown a very tolerant stance towards homosexuals.” Il Messaggero But at the same time, “he has always been unequivocally opposed to the 'gay lobby' and equally opposed to the admission of boys with this sexual identity to seminaries.”
But the newspaper also noted that the pope had condemned the problem of “faggots” in some Catholic seminaries and called on bishops to rein in the situation.
