Gionata's tent. The steps that brought us up to here
Reflections of the volunteers and volunteers who take care of the instagram Page of the Gionata project
It all started with a meeting. Don DavidIn his ministry, he had known homosexual people and their parents. He had realized that he did not always know how to accompany them and, for this reason, he understood that something concrete had to be done because they could no longer feel extraneous in their church.
That desire never abandoned him, not even when the disease forced him to a wheelchair. He continued to celebrate Sunday mass and to dream of a church capable of words of mercy and welcome for those who had felt excluded.
The jubilee pilgrimage de La Tenda di Gionata it was also born from that dream: to open the doors, walk together, build a church where everyone can feel at home (5-6 September, Rome).
The steps that brought us up to here
The portal and the cultural volunteer initiative of the Jonathan Project born around 2007, with the aim of telling and accompanying the life and faith path of Christian people LGBT+.
Over the years, this space of sharing and reflection grew to become the basis from which the association would then develop La Tenda di Gionata, transforming a simple online project into a real community support and dialogue.
La Tenda di Gionata, was founded, in 2018, by some volunteers of the Gionata project at the request of don David Esposito, a priest of the diocese of Fermo (Marche) who died prematurely.
In his ministry he had met homosexual people and their parents, understanding that he does not always know how to accompany them. From here the belief: something concrete had to be done because they no longer felt strangers in their church.
This thought also accompanied him during hospitalization in a rehabilitation center, where, after two years of fighting against a devastating tumor and now forced into a wheelchair, he never stopped celebrating Sunday mass. Even confined to those walls, a church continued to dream of words of mercy and welcome for those who had felt excluded: divorced, separated or homosexual people.
Over the years, La Tenda di Gionata transformed his reflections into small printed publications - Compact, practical and strong impact booklets to tell stories of faith, personal testimonies, short spiritual reflections and useful tools to parents and Christian people LGBT+.
Often come distributed for free, both during the vigils and withdrawals and on request (over 3,000 copies distributed free of charge only in the last year). On the gionata.org portal, in the publications archive, one is available dedicated space to download for free these editions.
But there are many initiatives and recurring projects:
Vigils for overcoming Omolesbobitransphobia. National coordination, collection and dissemination of the vigils in parishes and communities throughout Italy
National Network 3 Volteriators. We support the national network of believing parents with LGBT+children, born to share experiences and support each other
Listening and Networking services: "I trust you". We coordinate this listening service aimed at lGBT+ People and their family members looking for support and orientation.
Report and annual activities. The association public cards activities for each year useful for reporting and historical memory.
