A Feminist and Queer Vision of a Renewed Catholic Church

Elisa Belotti

Bonding 2.0’s Elisa Belotti has co-authored a new book on Catholicism, feminism, and queerness entitled La Chiesa che (non) ci vuole (English translation below) written with sociologist Paola Lazzarini and theologian Sandra Letizia. It was published in Italy in November 2025 by Edizioni Tlon. The book seeks to spark a renewed conversation about social justice within the Catholic Church.  Below is a summary of the book by Ms. Belotti.

The title of the book is a wordplay. La Chiesa che (non) ci vuole can mean both “The Church that (doesn’t) want us” and “The Church that we (don’t) need”. From the cover onward, our aim was to invite readers to reflect on their own experience of the Church and their hopes for it. What kind of Church truly matters for the present and the future? One that excludes, still unable to embrace differences, fearful of change and defensive even toward the Gospel it proclaims? Or one capable of listening and relationship, able to recognize the plurality of bodies and experiences, and to rediscover its most authentic promise in the freedom of faith?

The book’s cover carries symbolic weight as well. Illustrator Caterina Di Paolo reimagined the traditional iconography of Our Lady of Mercy, typically shown standing tall with her cloak spread wide to shelter people in need and persecuted. In our version, Mary welcomes the marginalized. Without judgment or shame, she reminds us that there is already room for all people in the Church, no permission required.

The book, currently available only in Italian, is the result of two years of work, research, and shared discernment. It grew out of Italy’s first podcast dedicated to Catholicism, feminism, and queerness, Cristianə a chi? (Who Can You Call Christian?), which the three of us host. Across six seasons, we explored many of the most urgent issues facing Christianity today: the body, sexuality, sin, family, privilege, politics, reproductive justice, money, sustainability, and more. This project revealed how transformative it can be to create spaces where stories, analysis, and faith can coexist without fear and with deep honesty.

Sandra Letizia

Theologian Sandra Letizia explains: 

“This book is the fruit of a shared journey. With Elisa,Paola, and I gathered conversations, wounds, insights, and hopes to show that those on the margins are also Church. 

“Writing this book was an act of faith and courage. We believe deeply that the Church is a living reality, broader, more real, and more welcoming than it may appear. It is a place where everyone should be able to recognize themselves. This is not a book against the Church, but a book from within the Church: an invitation to widen our gaze and to claim that a different space is truly possible”.

When the publishing house invited us to write this book, we spent time discerning what absolutely needed to be addressed. We began with a foundational question: What does it mean to be Catholic? To explore it, we delve into conscience, magisterium, dogma, and community life. Developing an adult faith requires asking why we believe what we believe and where we choose to stand.”

The book examines binary ideology and privilege, examining how the Church has historically constructed roles that push especially women to the margins. Yet, from within the Church itself, a liberating current continues to grow: feminist and queer theology. From this starting point, we wrote about the body and how Catholic culture has shaped experiences of love, sexuality, guilt, and pleasure often in ways that have wounded many. In reflecting on the body, we could not overlook the lives of trans people, whose experiences are frequently ignored or mistreated within ecclesial contexts.

Another central theme is family. We explore Catholic teaching on marriage between a man and a woman, but also the many family forms present in today’s Church: families shaped by separation or divorce, unmarried couples, queer relationships, chosen families, couples without children, and adoptive families.

Paola Lazzarini

Another chapter addresses power and abuse. We examine different forms of violence: abuses of conscience, spiritual manipulation, sexual violence, and the harms experienced by children, nuns, and LGBTQ+ people through conversion therapies (SOGIECE, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts). Finally, we write about faith and spirituality as a living relationship with God, grounded in experience and discernment rather than mere obedience.

Sociologist Paola Lazzarini reflects: 

“I believe this book offers an important opportunity to confront some of the most controversial issues in our time and in Catholic teaching. All of this is done from the perspective of three women who choose to question their faith with expertise, awareness, freedom, and without fear. It is also the fruit of countless encounters born over the five years of podcast work. Without them, we could never have reached this first synthesis.”

We are deeply grateful to all the people who, long before us, worked tirelessly to expand rights both in society and within the Catholic Church. Their witness has carved out a path of courage and possibility that we now have the privilege and responsibility to continue walking.

—Elisa Belotti, New Ways Ministry, January 10, 2026