Gay Newspaper Cites LGBTQ+ Pilgrimage as a Top Story of 2025; And Other News

Here are some items that may be of interest:

Jason Carson Wilson and Jim Sweeney from Dignity/Washingon, in Rome for the LGBTQ+ pilgrimage.

1. The Washington Blade, the LGBTQ+ newspaper of the District of Columbia, cited events surrounding September’s LGBTQ+ Pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee Year as the fourth most important LGBTQ+ international news stories of 2025.  The news story makes note that “A gay couple from D.C. — Jim Sweeney and the Rev. Jason Carson Wilson — are among those who took part in an LGBTQ pilgrimage to the Vatican a few days later that coincided with the church’s year-long Jubilee that began last Christmas Eve when Francis opened the Holy Door.” They also cited the meeting between Pope Leo XIV and Father James Martin, which took place during the same week as the pilgrimage.

Bishop Ramón Bejarano, auxiliary of San Diego, preaching at “All Are Welcome” Mass

2. Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego Ramon Bejarano was recently named by Pope Leo XIV to be the head of the Diocese of Monterrey, California.  While he is primarily known for his immigration ministry and advocacy Bishop-designate Bejarano has also been a good friend to the Catholic LGBTQ+ community. In September 2024, Bishop Bejarano presided at an “All Are Welcome” Mass for the San Diego LGBTQ+ community, at which he apologized to the congregants, saying, in part: “I apologize for the pain and distress that I and the Church have caused to many of you. I apologize for the stigmatization and trauma we have caused to others, because we have told them that they are not valued and that they are not worthy of the love of God.”

3. If you have seen the latest “Knives Out” movie, entitled Wake Up Dead Man, you may be interested in reading an analysis published on Nerdist.com entitled “The Complexity of Queerness and Catholicism in’ Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Story.'” In the essay, writer Lauren Coates posits that Inspector Benoit Blanc, the main figure of all three “Knives Out” films reveals in the most explicit way so far that he is gay, by using the Catholic backdrop of the story as a foil.  Possible spoiler alert: While no secrets of the plot are revealed in the article, reading it before seeing the film may detract from your enjoyment of it.

4. The Thomas More Society, a conservative Catholic legal group, has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to require that California school officials be allowed to report any gender identity activity, such as the use of chosen pronouns to parents, even without the consent of the student, reports The Advocate.  In 2024 the state enacted into law the California Department of Education’s 2016 guidance which said that educators should “accept and respect a student’s assertion of their gender identity where the student expresses that identity at school,”  and to seek permission from the student to disclose any gender identity activity before disclosing such information to anyone.  Exception was made for “very rare cases.”

—Francis DeBernardo, NewWays Ministry, January 17, 2026