Some 1,400 Catholics wearing rainbow attire and carrying crosses are taking part in the first officially recognised LGBTQ+ pilgrimage to Rome as part of the Roman Catholic Church's Jubilee Year, organisers and Vatican sources said.
Pilgrims from about 20 countries have gathered for prayer vigils, Masses and other activities in the Vatican city-state this weekend. On Saturday members of the group processed through St Peter's Basilica's Holy Door — a ceremonial entrance that opens only once every 25 years to mark a jubilee and which traditionally symbolises reconciliation.
Organisers described the event as historic because it is the first pilgrimage for LGBTQ+ Catholics to receive official recognition within the framework of the jubilee. Participants said they hoped the pilgrimage would affirm their place within the Church while engaging in spiritual practices such as confession, communal prayer and Mass.
The pilgrims will not have a private audience with the newly elected pope, Pope Leo XIV, who took office in May. Pope Leo has not publicly addressed the LGBTQ+ community since his election. His predecessor, Pope Francis, who died in April, altered some pastoral practice toward LGBTQ+ people but did not change Church doctrine.
In 2023, Pope Francis issued a decree that, among other measures, allowed priests to give blessings to same-sex and other "irregular" unions under certain conditions. The move drew criticism from conservative Catholics in several regions, particularly in parts of Africa, and the Vatican said such blessings should not be institutionalised as regular liturgical rites or conflated with civil unions or weddings. In 2020, Pope Francis said homosexual people "have a right to be in a family" and that they should not be "thrown out or made miserable over it."
"Not only are LGBTQ people marching and walking to say that they're part of the Church, but official Church institutions are welcoming them and helping them to tell their stories," Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, was quoted as saying by the National Catholic Reporter. New Ways Ministry is an advocacy group that works with LGBTQ+ Catholics.
The pilgrimage comes as the Vatican prepares for an unusually large influx of visitors for the jubilee year. Vatican officials have said they expect as many as 32 million pilgrims to come to Rome for various jubilee events through the year. The recognition of an LGBTQ+ pilgrimage within the jubilee framework marks a notable development in how some Church institutions are engaging with people who identify as LGBTQ+.
Participants and organisers said the pilgrimage sought to combine devotion with testimony, allowing those who often feel marginalised to take part in longstanding Church rites. Some local Church figures and conservative commentators have voiced concern about the implications of formal recognition, reflecting ongoing tensions within the global Church about pastoral care and doctrine.
The event is planned to continue through the weekend with further liturgies and communal activities. Vatican statements on the pilgrimage emphasised pastoral outreach without indicating a change to the Church's doctrinal position on marriage, which continues to be defined by the Vatican as a union between a man and a woman.