Vatican Jubilee To Include LGBTQ Pilgrimage and Rainbow Crucifix

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Some refreshingly good news has reached us from the “Urbs Aeterna” (Eternal City). This week, more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ Catholics, families and ministers are expected to attend prayer vigils, services and other events in Rome to commemorate the Jubilee Year taking place throughout 2025. Vatican Jubilees, which have been ‘a thing’ since the year 1300, now occur every 25 years. Historically they were declared as years of forgiveness and reconciliation. This year’s theme is “Pilgrims of Hope,” and is reportedly the first Jubilee with programming specifically for LGBTQ+ participants.

“The Jubilee has always been an event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church,” Pope Francis wrote in a letter before his death earlier this year. While the rainbow component may not be officially pope-sponsored, Pope Francis reportedly gave it the green light. Bishop Francesco Savino, who will preside over central events, sees participation of the LGBTQ+ faithful as a given. “It’s not about hosting, but about recognizing that everyone already belongs here,” he told Italian LGBTQ group, La Tenda di Gionata (Jonathan’s Tent).

Image: via Instagram

On Friday, Sept. 5, the international meeting, “Listening to the Experiences of LGBTQ Catholics,” will take place inside the Vatican, organized by Outreach, a U.S. organization founded by Jesuit Father James Martin. LGBTQ+ Catholics from across the globe will share stories and discussions about fostering inclusion. The Jesuit advocate also met with the current pope, Leo, today; the meeting hints at continuity around the prior pope’s welcoming of queer Catholics.

On Sept. 6, Bishop Savino, known for making closeness and a warm welcome the heart of his ministry, will lead the Holy Mass in the Church of the Gesù in Rome. The location is also the starting point of the mile-long pilgrimage walk to St. Peter’s Basilica through the Holy Door, open only in Jubilee years. Noted officially in the Jubilee program as “Pilgrimage of the association La Tenda di Gionata and other associations,” that contingent will represent the queer community and will be joined by LGBTQ+ Christians, supporters and pastoral workers. Participants will meet in the afternoon in “Piazza Pia”, where the “Jubilee Cross” (reportedly, to include a rainbow) will be delivered to guide the pilgrimage towards the Holy Door.

The Gionata organization is enthusiastic about Bishop Savino’s participation and share on its portal: “Attentive to the least and to those who live on the margins, he is unafraid to remind us that the proclamation of the Gospel ‘begins with the faces, the stories, and the wounds of those who so often have no voice.'”

In an interview with the Gionata, Bishop Savino shared thoughts about the celebration:

“It means making visible and tangible what I firmly believe: that the Christian community safeguards a spring capable of quenching every thirst for hope, binding up every wound to dignity, extending a hand without asking for entry tickets, without erecting invisible walls of exclusion.”

Many are hoping that LBGTQ+ participation will send a strong signal of change.

“This event, in its deepest essence, is like a bell ringing out in the deafening silence of exclusions: a clear, strong, and irreversible sign reminding us that the Gospel is not a manifesto for a chosen few, but a love letter addressed to the whole human family,” the Bishop said.

Image via Facebook: credit Progetto Gionata