LGBTQ+ Pilgrimage Journey Brings to Mind A Lifetime of Graces

Today’s post is the second installment of New Ways Ministry’s Executive Director Francis DeBernardo’s reports from the LGBTQ+ Pilgrimage for the Jubilee Year of Hope, organized by La Tenda di Gionata, an Italian LGBTQ+ organization. Pilgrimage events took place over the past weekend in Rome.  The first installment can be found here.  Stay tuned for more reporting about this event later this week.

The day began in the ordinary way that any day with a Catholic special event would begin: with a morning Mass.

But this was no ordinary Catholic event, and so this was no ordinary Mass.

Translation: “There is no fear in love.” 1 John 4:18

The Church of the Gesu in the center of Rome was packed to standing room only on the morning of Saturday, September 6, 2025. People were milling around speaking with each other in a variety of languages–French, Italian, Polish, Spanish, German, English, Portugese.  All ages were represented from toddlers to senior citizens, and there were nuns in traditional habits, Franciscans in their robes, many Roman collars, and a large majority of folks wearing T-shirts and polo shirts with various rainbow insignia on them.

This was the Mass that was organized for the 1200+ Catholic LGBTQ+ Jubilee Year pilgrims who, a few after the Mass, would join together at the Piazza Pia near the Tiber River and walk about one mile up the Via della Conciliazione to St. Peter’s Basilica to walk through the church’s Holy Door–open only during Jubilees–as a testament of faith and commitment to Catholic tradition.

As a participant in these events, I could not believe what I was seeing. The last time I was in Rome for a Jubilee was the year 2000 when Pope John Paul II called the year-long celebration to mark the two millennia of Christianity. I was in Eternal City that summer to speak at a conference on religion and lesbian/gay issues as part for the first ever World Pride celebration.

One of the things I remember most about that time was the anger expressed by the Vatican and the pope himself that World Pride was taking place in Rome during the Jubilee Year. The mood in the city was incredibly tense.  Vatican anti-gay rhetoric had fueled hateful sentiment beyond the Catholic Church. Many right-wing Italian political groups were denouncing World Pride, which was to culminate in a march from the Porta San Paolo to the Colosseum.  Anti-gay messages were plastered all over the city buildings.  One message in particular remains strong in my memory: ‘Gay al Colosseo? Sì, con i leoni’ (Translation: ‘Gays at the Colosseum? Yes, with lions’). The Vatican, in fact, tried to persuade the City of Rome not to allow World Pride or its march to take place. It did not succeed.

LGBTQ+ Pilgrimage Mass at the Church of the Gesu.

Twenty-five years later, openly LGBTQ+ people were now about to walk through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s. The fact that the Vatican this time was welcoming such a pilgrimage shows how much the Church has grown in regard to accepting LGBTQ+ people: from repression and exclusion to welcome and accompaniment.

The Mass at the Church of the Gesu was brimming with joy! The excitement reminded me of the LGBTQ+ equality marches in the U.S. in the latter part of the 20th century.  Everyone was so happy to be there! And, as was appropriate for the Jubilee Year’s theme, all in attendance were filled with “Hope.”

The presisder was Bishop Francesco Savino, the vice president of the Italian bishops’ conference. When have you ever heard of a an bishops’ conference official celebrate Mass for a group of LGBTQ+ people?  The multi-lingual liturgy began with a baptismal rite, a reminder that all in attendance had become full members of the church at their christenings.

Bishop Francesco Savino blessing the congregation during the baptismal rite.

During his homily, Bishop Savino told the congregation that “a Jubilee was the time to free the oppressed and restore dignity to those who had been denied it.” After a dramatic pause he added: “Brothers and sisters, I say this with emotion. It is time to restore dignity to everyone, especially those who have been denied it.”  The pilgrims leapt to their feat with thunderous applause that lasted for almost a minute and a half.  He received a second standing ovation at the conclusion.

A few hours later, the LGBTQ+ pilgrims filled the Piazza Pia, lining up to take their prayerful journey down the street to the basilica.  Befitting any pilgrimage, folks helped each other over the Roman cobblestones and sharing water to help soothe each other from the blistering Roman sun.  And like any pilgrimage, folks shared the stories of their own spiritual journeys with each other.  I am so grateful for my companions, some old friends, and some new.

Once inside St. Peter’s Square, the trip became particularly arduous with the press of the crowds from other pilgrimage groups who came by other routes.  When I finally reached the Holy Door, I calmed myself peacefully, catching my breath. While plodding through the 30-minute walk to the Door, I kept remembering so many Catholic LGBTQ+ people, supportive families and friends, pastoral ministers, theologians, and bishops I have met through NewWays Ministry. I thought of people whose courage and perserverance have taught me about faith in a loving God. When I got to the Door, I was filled with gratitude, and I realized that those grateful memories were all the graces were more thanI could ever have dreamed possible.

Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry reaches St. Peter’s Square, just a short way from the Holy Door.

Once inside the Basilica, I realized that while this pilgrimage experience would not have been possible without Pope Francis’ opening the doors of the whole church to LGBTQ+ people, even more important than his work have been the prayers, courage, and efforts of grassroots Catholics over decades who kept gently insisting that LGBTQ + people are people of deep faith who should have equal status in the Church. St. Peter’s Basilica is filled with statues and other images of great saints. But I realized that I have even greater saints in my life: those with whom I shared the past two days of spiritual renewal, and even more so, those who shared my even longer pilgrimage journey in over three decades of LGBTQ+ ministry.

—Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry, September 8, 2025