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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
A historic pilgrimage: Why LGBTQ Catholics hope Pope Leo will take up
Francis’ legacy
By Christopher Lamb, CNN
Updated:
12:11 PM EDT, Sat September 6, 2025
Source: CNN
The Church of the Gesù in central Rome was packed, as a procession
with a cross in rainbow colors moved up the central aisle. The service
marked the first officially recognized pilgrimage of LGBTQ Catholics to
Rome.
Around 1,000 pilgrims gathered Friday in the 17th century baroque
church to play music, pray and reflect, while on Saturday they
processed to St Peter’s Basilica, entering through the basilica’s
Holy Door, which symbolizes forgiveness and reconciliation. The door is
only opened in the Catholic Church’s jubilee years, falling every 25
years, including 2025.
The pilgrimage, listed on the official calendar of jubilee events,
comes as gay Catholics look to Pope Leo XIV to to welcome into the
church a group that has in the past faced alienation and sometimes
harsh treatment. During his 12-year pontificate, Pope Francis
repeatedly said LGBTQ Catholics should be welcomed as “children of
God” and took the landmark steps of authorizing blessings to same-sex
couples and calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality in
Africa.
“I think this is opening up the church to so many more people, to
whole families, and it’s just such a welcoming experience,” Cory
Shade, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, told CNN as she walked alongside
hundreds of pilgrims to St Peter’s Basilica.
Before their procession Saturday, the pilgrims gathered for a Mass in
the Gesù church held by a senior Italian bishop, Francesco Savino.
Hopes that Leo will build on Francis’ legacy were raised earlier this
week when he met the Reverend James Martin, a New York-based priest,
author and prominent advocate for LGBTQ Catholics who had a warm
relationship with the late pontiff. Martin is leading an LGBTQ group
from the United States on the Rome pilgrimage. A Jesuit like Francis,
Martin was granted a private audience by Leo in the Vatican’s
Apostolic Palace, a move widely seen as showing support for his work.
Backing up that interpretation, Martin told CNN after Friday’s
service: “The message I heard from Pope Leo is that he’s going to
continue the legacy of Pope Francis in his ministry with LGBTQ people,
which is a ministry of openness and welcome.”
Similarly, Michael O’Loughlin, leader of LGBTQ Catholic group
Outreach, told CNN that the pilgrimage was a “huge moment” and that
LGBTQ people are “cautiously optimistic” Pope Leo will continue
what Francis started.
Some believe that the Rome LGBTQ pilgrimage would not be taking place
were it not for Francis.
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of the New Ways Ministry, a US
organization advocating for LGBTQ people, was in Rome during the 2000
jubilee year, which also saw the first WorldPride events. He noted that
the events were condemned by then-Pope John Paul II and said
“anti-gay rhetoric” was coming from parts of the Vatican at the
time. “Twenty-five years later LGBTQ Catholics are being welcomed
through the Holy Door at the Vatican,” he told CNN. “It’s a big
change.”
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sex is only
permitted between a man and woman who are married. The church’s
official principles describehomosexuality as “intrinsically
disordered” – wording that some Catholics want to see altered –
but also state that gay people must be treated with “respect,
compassion and sensitivity” and all “unjust discrimination” must
be avoided.
Although Francis never changed the official teaching, he substantially
shifted the church’s approach to gay people, starting with his famous
response “Who am I to judge?” when asked for his view of gay
priests. In another example, Francis , something previously opposed by
the Vatican’s doctrine office.
In 2012, some LGBTQ people were concerned by a speech by then-Reverend
Robert Prevost criticizing the “homosexual lifestyle” and the
media’s sympathetic portrayal of “alternative families comprised of
same-sex partners and their adopted children.”
When asked about those remarks in 2023, however, the newly appointed
Cardinal Prevost said “we are looking to be more welcoming and more
open and to say all people are welcome in the church” and that
Francis had made it clear no one should be excluded “simply on the
basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to
dress, or whatever.”
Still, acceptance of LGBTQ people remains controversial among
Catholics, with deep disagreement over blessings and marriages of
same-sex couples, as among most Christians.
Juan Pablo O’Connell contributed reporting.
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