Jubilee and LGBT+people. Called to hope and instill hope

Article by Gianni Geraci* published on the fortnightly Adista new signs n ° 3 of 25 January 2025, pp.10-11

When, in the autumn of last year, the idea of ​​organizing a jubilee pilgrimage aimed at first to the LGBT+people, their family members and pastoral operators who follow them was born, I had a text that is at L 'Aquila, in the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio, the place where that Celestinian forgiveness is celebrated which, of the Catholic Jubilee is considered one of the events that pre -cooked.

Speaking of the Holy Door present in that Basilica, a third grade girl wrote: "In this church there is a door that, when you cross her, becomes good!".

I read that theme in the spring of 2019 and, since then, I consider it one of the most moving evidence of the spirit with which one should approach an event such as the Jubilee also because it refers to the Celestinian forgiveness which, since the bubble , presents some aspects on which it is worth thinking about. In that document, in fact, the Pope Saint who was then imprisoned and killed by Bonifacio VIII, expressly speaks of "all those" who would enter the church of Santa Maria in Collemaggio.

That "all" also occurs on the occasion of this Jubilee of hope and that "all" appeals above all those who, in the past, felt far from the initiatives organized for the Holy Year.

I am one of these, because in 2000, when the Church celebrated the jubilee Of entry into the Third millennium, i lived firsthand the many controversies that there were after the cardinal angelo sodano, who was Then Vatican secretary of state, He said That the holy see, in rome, The Gays that At the beginning of july would arrive for world pride did Not Want them because they would profan the holy year.

Fortunately (and not "unfortunately" as Giuliano Amato had said that he was Prime Minister in those months) Italy is a secular state, the World Pride took place regularly and the catastrophes that had been feared by Cardinal Sodano and by Those who had taken up his alarm words were not there.

The fool was such that even the Pope, during the angelus of 9 July, said: «On behalf of the church of Rome I cannot fail to express bitterness for the affrontation given to the great Jubilee of the year 2000s and for the offense To the Christian values ​​of a city that is so dear to the heart of Catholics around the world ». I, who in the events to which John Paul II referred I had participated, still remember the anger I tried in to assisted such a heavy misrepresentation of reality.

Of course as a man who loved and still loves the Church, I tried to grasp, in the words of John Paul II, the good that was and I remember having invited the groups of Christian homosexuals of which I was the spokesman to make his own words his own which he had closed his intervention: when, remembering point 2358 of the catechism, he said that the homosexuals "must be welcomed with respect, compassion and delicacy" and that "in their regard, every brand of unjust discrimination will be avoided".

I believe that the choice to welcome, twenty -five years later, the proposal made by an association such as la Tenda di Gionata - born to welcome, inform and form LGBT+people, their family members and pastoral operators who follow them - of a pilgrimage on the occasion of the Jubilee, both the practical realization of the words with which John Paul II, in 2000, had concluded his intervention.

I also believe that this choice is the most faithful to the tradition that the words of Celestino V had begun with what had written in indirect the Celestinian forgiveness.

Finally, I believe that the choice to say yes to the jubilee pilgrimage that many associations will do together with the la Tenda di Gionata on September 6th is also a message to all those who, in the past, have felt removed from the ministers of a church which, instead, if it really wants to be "Catholic", that is, universal, must accommodate everyone in his arms. But everyone. Everyone, all, as Pope Francis himself said with force when on August 4, 2023, on the occasion of the World Youth Day that was taking place in Lisbon, he said: "Todos! Todos! Todos! " three times.

More than once, in reflecting on the experience of us homosexuals, I recalled that our diversity can be kept hidden and, in fact, throughout history has almost always been kept hidden.

This has put us in a position to be one of the few minorities that can be camouflaged. This peculiarity should be lived with great responsibility, because it should push us to promote, in society and in the Church, a feeling of inclusion which, starting from respect for all minorities, leads to their enhancement in a logic in which the differences are enhanced in A "convivial" dimension (to use a happy image of Tonino Bello).

One of the episodes that is often mentioned to say that the Bible condemns homosexuality is also very well reminded of it. In Sodoma, in fact, the one who welcomes the Pellegrini Angels is not a person originally from the city, but Lot, a "different" man because he was a foreigner who lived camouflaged among other inhabitants.

We also homosexuals must be remembered to be "foreigners" in a society and in a church where the fact that everyone is heterosexual is considered obvious. And as "foreigners" who can camouflage themselves within the city walls we have the task of exercising the Ministry of Reception with particular attention and making our own what Jesus says in Chapter 25 of Matthew: "I was a foreigner and you welcomed me".

That's why the jubilee pilgrimage that la Tenda di Gionata is organizing it wants to be a pilgrimage open to all people who are convinced that it is necessary to overcome any form of discrimination against those who feel marginalized.

That's why we decided to invite you to walk with us on September 6 many other people who, although not sharing our sexual orientation or a experience marked by gender variance, are convinced that it is necessary to repeat that "Todos! Todos! Todos! " Said by the Pope more than a year ago and to resume that "all" with whom Celestino V had invited the pilgrims to cross the Holy Door.

We will try to confirm ourselves in the hope and, together, we will exhort to never lose it, we too and live in a time when many of the things that surround us seem to tell us that hatred and enmity are taking possession of humanity.

We must say to everyone that it still makes sense to hope. We must tell everyone that it still makes sense to walk together even if you are different.

We must tell everyone that the last word always remains to God and it is always a word of hope, it is always a word of forgiveness, because, as Sant'Ambrogio reminds us: "Where there is mercy there is God there; Where there is rigor and severity perhaps there are the ministers of God, but God is not there ».

* Gianni Geraci is the founder of the Il Guado Association (Milan) and partner de La Tenda di Gionata, and is a historic Catholic activist of the rights of the LGBT+ community. Has numerous articles to his credit and has edited several publications on the theme of faith and homosexuality