LGBTQ+ People Are Pilgrims of Hope, Showing the Church the Way to Jubilee

The director of a major Catholic social service agency in South Africa recently wove together reflections on the 2025 Jubilee Year theme–“Pilgrims of Hope”–with his experience attending  an international conference of LGBTQ+ activists, publishing his thoughts in The Southern Cross, a Catholic magazine for the southern portion of the African continent.

Dr. Raymond Perrier

Dr. Raymond Perrier, Director of the Denis Hurley Centre, an interfaith community center in Durban, attended the most recent conference of  IGLA World, an international Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, which is a worldwide federation of more than 1,900 organizations from over 160 countries and territories. Held this year in Cape Town, South African, Perrier, joined 1,400 other participants representing 120 countries. The conference presented an opportunity for LGBTQ+ activists and their allies to share their stories and discuss ways forward. 

For Perrier, the conference helped him make a connection between :LGBTQ+ people and the theme of hope which Pope Francis has chosen for the 2025 Jubilee Year, especially in a world that seems increasingly leaning towards despair. He wrote:

“The LGBTQI+ people I met are Pilgrims of Hope. They hold on to that hope despite centuries of oppression; they even hold on to hope when glimmers of light (from the Synodal discussions in Rome, or the recent Anglican vote in South Africa on same sex blessings) are snatched from them.”

Jubilee Year Logo

Although many participants had personal histories marked by suffering, rejection, and pain, Perrier notes that overwhelmingly the participants focused on hope, resiliency, and dreams for the future–and for Perrier, this is a direct echo of the message of the Jubilee year:

“…it struck me that they were Pilgrims of Hope. They were not in Cape Town to complain about what they had experienced, but rather to work together to discuss ways in which the world could be better for them and members of their community. That, I trust, is what will also draw Catholic pilgrims to Rome and to other Jubilee centres in 2025: What hope do we have and what hope can we share with others?”

Unfortunately many of the participants,who were “frequently Christian, and often Catholic,” found their faith communities to often be places of rejection and despair, not hope. Yet, though their faith community may have rejected them, many had a strong sense of welcome and acceptance from God. A sense of hope flows from that spiritual relationship.Perrier noted a strong sense of spirituality and connection with God  among the attendees of the IGLA conference, which is a secular, not religious event:

“A surprising number participated in the interfaith event that started the proceedings. Here people were able to share frankly about their spiritual journeys — we are all pilgrims — and I was struck by the depth of reflection and deep longing for God that so many expressed…These were people who were asking profound questions, praying intently, drawing on the rituals and practices of their faith traditions, and sharing their Scriptures. When faced with stone walls and cold shoulders, they had sought new ways of exploring their faith.”

Mpho Andrea Tutu

At the conference, Mpho Andrea Tutu, an Anglican priest and daughter of Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, spoke about her experience of being told by the church that her father once led that she could no longer operate as a priest after her marriage to a woman. Yet, despite the pain of being rejected by the church, she still spoke of the beauty of God’s diverse creation:

“This is a universe so wildly and wonderfully beautiful and diverse.Why do we then tolerate the pinched joylessness of a religion which is not conservative but rather preservative?”

Reflecting on her words, and the conference as a whole, Perrier saw the direct connection between the perseverance and hope of LGBTQ+ people of faith and the goals of the most recent Jubilee year, expressed in the first quotation above.

As we all embark in our own ways of living out the goals of the Jubilee year, Perrier offers the following challenge:

“I cannot help but look at the Jubilee Year logo from a new angle. It shows a tempestuous sea — the waves around us are not letting up — and the focus is on the cross. As Christians, Christ is always our hope, even when others would take him from us. Clinging to that cross — or marching towards it — are a group of people (of no defined gender) in a range of colours. This could remind us of the Rainbow Nation of South Africa, or the Rainbow flag of the LGBTQI+ movement.

“We are pilgrims together, we face the storms of conflict together, and we journey together towards Christ. Whether a priest, bishop or cardinal, or a regular Catholic in the pews, each one of us can choose whether to see and hear our fellow pilgrims and reach out a hand of hope, or to abandon them to drown.”

Phoebe Carstens (they/them), New Ways Ministry, February 14, 2025