Some 1,400 Catholics wearing rainbow colours and carrying crosses took part in the first officially recognised LGBTQ+ pilgrimage to Rome on the sidelines of the Vatican's Jubilee Year, organisers and witnesses said.
Pilgrims from about 20 countries attended prayer vigils, Masses and other activities this weekend, and on Saturday entered St. Peter's Basilica through the Holy Door — a gesture that traditionally symbolises reconciliation. The group will not have a private audience with Pope Leo XIV, who was elected in May.
Organisers said participants planned a programme of liturgies, prayer vigils and opportunities to tell personal stories over the weekend. The pilgrimage was formally recognised by some Vatican offices as part of the yearlong Jubilee events, which the Holy See expects to draw tens of millions of visitors; Vatican estimates put the total number of pilgrims to Rome this year at about 32 million.
The pilgrimage comes against a backdrop of limited institutional change within the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Francis, who died in April, did not alter core Church doctrine on sexuality but issued a 2023 decree that opened the way for priests to give blessings to same-sex and so-called "irregular" couples in certain circumstances. That move drew criticism from more conservative elements of the Church, particularly in parts of Africa, and the Vatican subsequently said such blessings should not become part of regular liturgical rites or be linked to civil unions or weddings.
Pope Leo XIV has not publicly addressed the LGBTQ+ community or commented on his predecessor's 2023 decree. Church officials have repeatedly emphasised that official teaching continues to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
"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, told the National Catholic Reporter. New Ways Ministry is an advocacy group that supports LGBTQ people within the Catholic community.
Participants and organisers characterised the event as both spiritual and civic: a demonstration of belonging within Catholicism and an attempt to press for pastoral recognition while operating within the constraints set by Vatican guidance. The Holy Door, opened only for Jubilee years every 25 years, offered a highly symbolic setting for the procession.
While the pilgrimage was welcomed by many participants and some Church bodies, it underscores ongoing tensions inside global Catholicism over pastoral approaches to LGBTQ people. Conservative bishops and clergy in several regions have resisted the 2023 guidance, and debates over pastoral practice continue alongside broader discussions about the Church's priorities during the Jubilee and the transition to new papal leadership.
For pilgrims, organisers said, the event was a moment to affirm faith and identity in a place central to global Catholic life. The pilgrimage concluded its scheduled public events this weekend, with participants returning to their home countries after a series of scheduled liturgies and meetings in Rome.