VATICAN CITY (AP) — Over 1,000 LGBTQ+ Catholics and their families participated in a Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome on Saturday, celebrating a new level of acceptance in the Catholic Church after long feeling shunned, and crediting Pope Francis with the change.
Some wept as they walked through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in the rite of passage of Holy Year pilgrims. They said the moment felt important, historic even, in the life of the church and their community.
“It just felt epic, like I was able to touch the hand of God,” said Justin del Rosario, who carried a big wooden crucifix across the threshold of the Holy Door with a group of pilgrims from the United States that included his husband.
Several LGBTQ+ groups participated in the pilgrimage, which was listed in the Vatican’s official calendar of events for the Holy Year, the once-every-quarter century celebration of Catholicism. Vatican organizers stressed that the listing in the calendar didn’t signal endorsement or sponsorship, but was a logistical tool to help organizers and pilgrims alike.
The main sponsor of the pilgrimage was an Italian LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, “Jonathan’s Tent,” but other groups participated, including a group of trans women from southern Rome, DignityUSA and Outreach, anothe …