Saint Sebastian, the saint of the LGBTQ community

Article by Benoît Beauchamp published on the AlterHéros website on 23 September 2009, freely translated by Domenico Afiero

What is a saint? A saint, according to Catholics, is a person who has led an exemplary life, following the teachings of Jesus, and is proposed as a model to imitate.

But the saints no longer belong to this world and, therefore, they no longer go around as they once did. The saints would intercede with the Lord to obtain graces for those who pray to them.

Each saint has his own 'speciality'. One prays, for example, to Saint Apollonia for healthy teeth; Saint Francis of Assisi to protect pets; Saint Anthony of Padua to find lost objects and, finally, Saint John the Baptist to protect Quebec.

Homosexual men and women should devote themselves to whom? No saint has, at least officially, the merit of being the patron saint of the gay community. However, there are many gay Catholics who pray to Saint Sebastian and invoke him as their patron saint.

There is very little information about this saint. It seems to be a Gallo who lived in the 3rd century. A.D. He would have lived his youth in Milan, where he received a Christian education.

We are talking about a historical period in which, just to be precise, Christians are persecuted throughout the Roman Empire, because they are accused of not venerating traditional gods and not recognizing the emperor as a divinity.

Christian martyrdom

It is said that the emperor Diocletian, seduced by the beauty of San Sebastiano, presented him at his court and appointed him head of his personal guards. The young Sebastiano has the task of leading the Christians to the place of martyrdom.

Thus, one day, console and encourage those Christians to suffer martyrdom peacefully, without losing faith in God.

Some citizens, therefore, hearing him comforting, reported him to the authorities. The emperor, learning that Sebastian himself was a Christian, flies into a rage and orders his death sentence.

However, the archers, tasked with piercing him with arrows, have great affection for the saint. In fact, unable to kill him, they shoot the arrows but without aiming at the heart. Despite his wounds, San Sebastiano does not die. Left on the ground because he was believed to be dead, he is rescued by a young widow woman who will later be known by the name of Saint Irene.

Having regained his strength again, Saint Sebastian returns to the emperor Diocletian and reproaches him for being too cruel towards Christians. This time, the emperor had him massacred with a stick and, having made sure that he was dead, had the saint's body thrown into the sewers of Rome.

For the torture he suffered, Saint Sebastian was first recognized as the patron saint of archers and then, in the 5th century, he was recognized as a protector against the plague. Catholics, affected by AIDS, which is by analogy associated with the plague, have turned to Saint Sebastian since the 1980s to ask for comfort and courage to fight against the disease.

Patron saint of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) community?

The artistic representations of this saint have been part of the homoerotic universe for a long time. The reason is simple: except for Christ on the cross, Saint Sebastian is among the few religious figures to have been depicted almost naked. For several centuries, artists have tried to give us an image of a beautiful dying ephebe tied to a stake with a body pierced by arrows.

In short, a Christian version of the Greek god Apollo. Finally, it can be noted that for some writers (Shakespeare, Wilde, Mann, Proust, etc), characters named Sebastiano often evoke homosexuality or, at least, sexual ambiguity.

Given the current position of the Catholic Church with respect to homosexuality, it is unlikely - in the short term - that Saint Sebastian will be recognized as the patron saint of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans (LGBT) community. However, nothing prevents us, in the meantime, from urging it for an open and inclusive Church.

Original text: Saint Sébastien, please pour us!