Walking with Pride and Faith: LGBTQ+ Pilgrims on the Via Francigena

Pilgrims carrying their rainbow cross along their journey.

While most of the people participating in  the LGBTQ+ Jubilee earlier this month arrived from all over the world by plane, train, car, and bus, about thirty pilgrims chose a different and more traditional path to arrive in Rome: they came on foot, walking an ancient and holy pilgrimage road, the Via Francigena of the South.

This pilgrimage trail is part of a longer route that begins in England. The most famous portion of the Via Francigena starts in Canterbury, and it has carried pilgrims to Rome since the sixth century. From there, some medieval travelers would continue on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, walking south along the Appian Way to Santa Maria di Leuca in Apulia (southern Italy) where they could set sail for the Holy Land. The Via Francigena of the South is this second portion of the journey. The LGBTQ+ group began their journey in Terracina, south of Rome.  

Over nine days they covered 140 kilometres (about 87 miles), arriving in Rome on September 5th for the pilgrimage Vigil at the Church of the Gesù. They walked because of their queerness or the queerness of their loved ones. 

Bondings 2.0’s Elisa Belotti spoke with some of the pilgrims, who shared what  their journey meant for them

Lorenzo Albano

Lorenzo Albano

Lorenzo Albano, who lives in Bologna, Italy, explained why he decided to walk: “The Via Francigena is a very beautiful path, rich in nature, culture, and history. I was curious to discover it, so I chose to reach Rome on foot. I believe that questioning myself even on the physical level helps restore order to things, to my priorities. Walking allows you to breathe, to feel, and to let go of what is unnecessary but often weighs us down in daily life.

“To enter Rome after walking the Appian Way is incredibly moving.  Spiritually, when I was in silence, I felt peace. One step at a time, the walk filled my life with meaning. Walking is hard. You have to use your energy wisely and you don’t waste your breath. 

“It’s not easy to express, but I felt spiritually satisfied and grateful simply to be there. On a human level, spending time together with others is always beautiful, but doing it while walking makes the relationships even more authentic. While walking, you share important moments of your present, past, or future life. Trust grows easily. I’m so glad close and deep friendships were born. We are connected through this experience.”

Did the pilgrimage’s slow rhythm affect how the group perceived their destination? “Yes, very much,” Albano said. “Step by step, my desire grew to be there and to live what awaited us. Each person has their own pilgrimage and their own rhythm. Some are faster, others slower. It can change many times in a day depending on outside or inner reasons. There is no right or wrong pace. What matters most is to keep walking. We waited for those who needed more time and it was amazing!”

Mauro Cerritelli

Mauro Cerritelli (Washington Post photo)

Mauro Cerritelli, who lives in Abruzzo, Italy, said: “For me, joining the LGBTQ+ pilgrimage to Rome was an act of freedom from the fears I still carried even after coming out. It was a personal step but also a cultural, social and spiritual one. This pilgrimage became a second coming out, before the whole of society, in the largest city in Italy, Rome. I put all of my energies into spreading the message of this Jubilee: the Church should be a home for all.

 “Along the way, our presence became a living testimony, a true street evangelization, manifested in our very bodies. This was my third pilgrimage and my second organized with the LGBT+ Christian project, an Italian network of queer people of faith. From Terracina to Rome, every step was marked by encounters with bishops, priests, parishes, and the Methodist community. This ecumenical spirit renewed both the Via Francigena of the South and the meaning of a Church that is truly a home for all.:

Cerritelli spent 15 years in Azione Cattolica, a Catholic lay movement committed to support the rights of the oppressed and the poor. As this chapter of his life ends, “This pilgrimage marks a new beginning. I’m grateful to the pastoral workers and to all the ordinary people who bravely support the dream of a Church open to everyone, beyond every border.”

Sergio Caravaggio

Sergio Caravaggio (Washington Post photo)

Sergio Caravaggio, who lives in Cremona, Italy, organized the first LGBTQ+ pilgrimage  in 2017: “The first time we were about twelve people and we walked along the northern Via Francigena, the most famous route in Italy. Since then, we have walked together every one or two years. The 2025 pilgrimage was the seventh”.

In 2017, the pilgrims arrive at St. Peter’s Square with their banner greeting Pope Francis.

That first pilgrimage in 2017 ended in St. Peter’s Square, where pilgrims carried the sign “Gay and lesbian pilgrims greet Pope Francis.” At first, Vatican police tried to stop them from bringing the sign into the square, but eventually they were allowed. During the Angelus, Pope Francis even greeted them. He simply called them “pilgrims from the Via Francigena,” without mentioning the LGBTQ+ community, and then offered them rosaries.

At that first  pilgrimage, the travelers created a wooden rainbow cross. That same cross was carried again in 2025, all the way to St. Peter’s Square. At first, some Vatican volunteer ushers tried to stop the cross  from entering the basilica. But then, other volunteers intervened, saying: “It’s your cross. It should enter with you through the Holy Door”. And so it did.

Yveline Behets

Yveline Behets (Washington Post photo)

Yveline Behets, a Catholic transgender woman from Belgium, explained her decision to walk to Rome: “As I am a Catholic, I had  already made to go to St. Peter’s Basilica as a pilgrim in order to live the Jubilee. I thought I would go by plane. As I am a hiker, a walking pilgrimage seemed like a beautiful opportunity for a deeper spiritual journey.

“As a transgender woman at a significant moment in my personal journey, the chance to live this pilgrimage alongside other Christians–who so often suffer discrimination because of being different–felt like a true calling. Beyond the physical and psychological aspects of living my difference, this pilgrimage added a spiritual dimension: to feel God’s love for who I am, just as for all of God’s children, including LGBTQ+ people. I also felt God’s call that, through my own reality, I might share a word of liberation and life”.

Having walked this holy road, Behets expressed her hopes for the Church beyond the Jubilee: 

“I hope that Christians, as a community of Church, may learn to know each other better and to respect each person’s life journey. And that the institutional Church may open its eyes to human reality, welcome it in all its diversity and find in it the ground for a ministry inspired by the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

—Elisa Belotti, New Ways Ministry, September 23, 2025