From welcome to recognition. The long journey of LGBT+ Catholics towards the Jubilee 2025

Article by David Eduardo Vilchis-Carrillo* and Giuseppe Giordan**, published in the international journalReligions***, vol.17, n.2, 194, February 2026. Freely translated by the volunteers of the Gionata Project, third part

A recurring theme that emerges from the testimonies published by La Tenda di Gionata of those who participated in the LGBT+ Jubilee pilgrimage is the search for recognition rather than acceptance.

The Jubilee becomes a key moment to publicly state that the objective is not to ask permission to enter, but to seek full recognition of a presence that has always been there.

As Yveline (2025), a Catholic transgender woman from Belgium, explains, “the Catholic Church is like a big family, of which I am part, with my personal identity and, at the same time, with its «family traits»”. This emphasis on recognition is also reflected in the words of Ada (2025), who describes it as “the desire to affirm that I exist, we are there, we exist”, even if we still move on the edges of a blurred visibility [even if] not by our choice”.

Angel (2025), from the coordination of the Mosaiko Group of Rome, further develops this idea by saying that participating in the Jubilee means "trying to be the Church within the Church. Not asking for a place, because in every family there is a chair for everyone, and we are already inside, with our lives, our relationships, our concrete faith". Finally, Tiziano, one of the organizers of the Jubilee, captures the core of this change concisely: "We no longer just talk about welcome, but about recognition and valorization" (Belotti 2025b).

This idea is also echoed by some Church leaders. For example, Monsignor Francesco Savino, Vice President of the Italian Episcopal Conference and the prelate who presided over the Mass that preceded the Jubilee pilgrimage, declared in an interview: "It is not a question of "welcoming" someone into the house of the Lord, but of recognizing that everyone is already a legitimate inhabitants [...] And so, once again, the message is clear: in the heart of God, the peripheries become the center, because there are only beloved children" (Spera 2025a).

In this sense, the theme of dignity emerges in the testimonies as a central narrative through which the participants legitimize their belonging to the Church. For many participants, participation in the Jubilee served as confirmation that faith and LGBT+ identity are not opposites.

For example, Hector (2025), an american pilgrim, describes a shift from understanding faith as being loved by god “despite Being gay” to experiencing divine love as unconditional, without conditions, limitations, or restrictions.

Elisa, an Italian professor and journalist, explains that LGBT+ believers prepared for the Jubilee not "despite" their identity, but precisely "through it", integrating faith and identity in a single path (Belotti 2025b).

This interpretation is taken from Father Noppenberger, priest of the diocese Of baden-Württemberg, who pointed out that no one has Crossed The holy door to ask forgiveness for being queer, instead insisting that “identity is not a sin” (Heider 2025).

The Jubilee was interpreted by participants as a sign of restoration of dignity. The words of Bishop Savino (2025) "it is time to restore dignity to everyone, especially to those who have been denied it", pronounced during the Mass and welcomed with applause by those present. The acceptance of the bishop's words is clearly reflected in the testimonies of the pilgrims, where dignity is described as something experienced collectively and emotionally.

Mara (2025), mother of a gay son, reflects: “I saw mulberry trees planted in the sea because I experienced a Church in which «dignity was restored to everyone, especially to those to whom it had been denied», and my heart was filled with joy and gratitude”.

Likewise, Maria Aminti (2025), from the Kairos parent group of Florence, recalls "that they made us all feel like a worthy, active and important part of our beloved Church". These quotes show a turning point: a public recognition, within the Church itself, that the exclusion suffered for years has no basis in the Gospel.

The reflections that follow the bishop's words frame dignity as an invitation to rebuild relationships and restore a sense of equality within the Church. As he explains Carola (2025), a lesbian pilgrim, “restoring dignity (a journey that is just beginning) means bringing ourselves back to the same level as other believers and overcoming the «pietistic» welcome”.

Irene (2025), a Catholic religion teacher, develops this idea by highlighting the need for renewed community bonds, stating that "it is time to break down the barriers of indifference, rebuild community bonds and offer hope to those who have lost it. It is an invitation to take care of each other, because dignity is not a privilege but a right that belongs to every person".

In this sense, drawing on biblical imagery, Fabiana and Luana (2025), a Sicilian couple who shared their testimony during the Vigil, describe how, although they are “silenced by a Church that would like us to be on the margins”, they nevertheless state that, “like Bartimaeus, we cry out with our lives that our love has the same dignity as any other love”.

Titian (2025), coordinator of the Mosaiko group in Rome, adds a community and ecclesial dimension to this understanding, stating that: We try to live and think that the Church is built from the base and then to rise and bring this message high. The most important aspect was the communion between us, and that is what is most important to us. The pyramids are not built from the top, but from the foundations, and we are part of those foundations, perhaps even hidden, but perhaps no longer. It is founded on the dignity of children of God, because we are baptized. In this way, the Jubilee is a symbol of this change.

In the words of Mauro, an italian pilgrim and participant in Catholic action, is An "act of Liberation [...] personal, but also cultural, social and Spiritual. this pilgrimage has become a second revelation, before the whole society, in the largest city in Italy, Rome. i put all my energy into spreading the message of this Jubilee: the Church must be a home for all" (Belotti 2025a).

Or, as the kairos Group (2024), “Crossing the Holy Door becomes a profound gesture, which says: «This is my home too», but “it is not just a personal gesture, but an act that challenges the entire Catholic Church”, because “when a marginalized person decides to enter, he brings with him his wounds, but also the possibility of transforming the community”. Therefore, “this gesture is not only for those who make it, but for the whole Church. It is an invitation to build together that Kingdom where every person finds his place."

Taken together, these testimonies show that dignity functions simultaneously as a claim to recognition and as a concept deeply rooted in the Catholic tradition.

On the one hand, the language of dignity articulates a demand for rights, equality and public recognition within the Church, challenging long-standing forms of exclusion.

On the other hand, this claim is not framed in opposition to Catholic belief, but is based on a religious worldview in which dignity derives from a relationship with God and baptismal membership. This dual positioning reveals an ongoing tension between rights-based claims and the theological framework that supports them.

* David Eduardo Vilchis-CarrilloIs a Mexican researcher currently affiliated with the University of Padua, where he works in the FISPPA Department (Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy and Applied Psychology). His research lies at the intersection of sociology of religion, secularism and the rights of LGBTQI+ people. Trained at the Colegio de México (Colmex) in Political Science and at the Lumen Gentium Catholic University in Philosophy, Vilchis-Carrillo analyzes the complex relationship between religious freedom and rights in contemporary societies. He has a particular interest in Latin American contexts and the world of young believers, investigating how new generations of believers negotiate their identity between tradition and claims for recognition.

** Giuseppe GiordanHe is full professor Of sociology Of religion at The FISPPA department of The university Of Padua. a prominent figure in the international sociological panorama, his research explores religious pluralism, new forms of spirituality, the relationship between religion and human rights and the transformation of religious freedom in secularized societies. he Is coordinator of international doctoral programs and co-editor of the prestigiousAnnual Review of the Sociology of Religion. His theoretical reflection on “religious freedom as a structure of plausibility”, discussed in the article on the Jubilee, has become a point of reference for understanding the tension between tradition and individual claims within religious institutions. Among his recent publications, the volumeA Sociology of Religious Freedom(2024), written with Olga Breskaya and James T. Richardson.

*** ThemagazineReligionsIs an international academic publication, dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of religions and theology. It is published online by the publisher MDPI (Basel, Switzerland) on a monthly basis and collects contributions from scholars from different fields of religious and human sciences.

Original text:Freedom Within Religion: The Participation of LGBT+ Catholics in the Jubilee 2025