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4w ago

LGBT+ Catholic Pilgrims Cross St. Peter’s Holy Door in First Official Jubilee Pilgrimage

A Vatican listing granted visibility without signaling doctrinal change.

Una procesión se movilizó a la plaza de San Pedro.
Cientos de católicos arcoíris de todo el mundo cruzarán en peregrinación la puerta de la Basílica de San Pedro, en la Ciudad del Vaticano
Hundreds of LGBTQ+ Catholics and their families who joined a Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome, which celebrates a new level of acceptance in the Catholic Church, and who are crediting Pope Francis for the change, walk toward St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (Mauro Scrobogna / LaPresse via AP)
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Overview

  • Roughly 1,300–1,400 pilgrims from more than 20 countries passed through the Holy Door after a packed Mass at Rome’s Church of the Gesù.
  • Italian bishops’ conference vice president Francesco Savino celebrated the liturgy, urged that nobody feel excluded, and said Pope Leo XIV encouraged him to preside.
  • The pilgrimage appeared on the official Jubilee calendar, yet Vatican organizers emphasized that the listing did not constitute sponsorship or endorsement.
  • La Tenda di Gionata organized the event with participation from Outreach; participants avoided Pride flags though rainbow symbols appeared on crosses and clothing, and some walked sections of the Via Francigena.
  • Jesuit James Martin reported after a papal meeting this week that Leo XIV intends to continue Francis’s welcoming approach, which many pilgrims credited for their return to the Church.