Is the Vatican sponsoring an ‘LGBT Jubilee’?

Did Pope Francis approve a pilgrimage causing controversy?

As the pope celebrated the creation of 21 new cardinals this weekend, and Notre Dame Cathedral was rededicated in Paris, some corners of the Catholic internet lit up with a different emerging story: Reports that Pope Francis had arranged or approved a 2025 Jubilee Year pilgrimage for LGBT people.

Credit: Unsplash.

While many claimed that an upcoming pilgrimage was sponsored, approved, or requested by Pope Francis, there were few clear facts, even with a lot of pontificating online.

So The Pillar chased down what’s known — Is there a Vatican-sponsored Jubilee pilgrimage for LGBT people?

The Pillar reports.

What is the Jubilee Year?

The Church holds a Jubilee Year every 25 years — A year of pilgrimages, of a focus on the spiritual life, of confession and special Masses, and of a general turn towards God in thanksgiving, and in repentance.

The 2025 Jubilee Year will start on Christmas Eve and last until January 6, 2026 under the motto “Pilgrims of Hope.”

The year will be marked by the opening of four Holy Doors in Rome, which pilgrims can walk through to receive a plenary indulgence — at the basilicas of Saint Peter, Saint John Lateran, Saint Mary Major, and Saint Paul Outside the Walls.

The city of Rome is expected to receive pilgrims from all over the world to the various pilgrimages and activities planned during the year.

What is the “LGBT pilgrimage” I’ve seen on social media?

The pilgrimage is organized by the Italian group Tenda de Gionata — Jonathan’s Tent — with support from the Italian bishops’ conference and the Society of Jesus. It is catered to LGBT pilgrims, their families, and pastoral workers that collaborate with them.

Tenda di Gionata was founded in Italy in 2018 as a volunteer project to become “more and more sanctuaries of welcome and support for LGBT people and every person affected by discrimination” and to make known “the journey that LGBT Christians (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) take every day in their communities.”

So what will the pilgrims do?

According to Il Messaggero, the pilgrimage will be titled “Church, Home for All, LGBT+ Christians and Other Existential Frontiers.”

It is set to start on Friday, Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. in the Gesù, the Jesuit church in which Saint Ignatius of Loyola is buried.

Then, on Saturday Sept. 6, the pilgrims will pass through the Holy Doors at St Peter’s, and will end with a Mass in the Gesù church celebrated by Bishop Francesco Savino of Cassano all’Jonio, vice-president of the Italian bishops’ conference.

Who is organizing it?

According to various Italian reports, Father Giuseppe Piva, SJ is the initiative’s organizer.

Piva works in the Diocese of Bologna and is active in the “LGBT apostolate” of the diocese.

According to Italian media, Piva consulted with the rector of the Gesù church, Fr. Claudio Pera, SJ, and with the superior of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Arturo Sosa SJ, about the project.

Piva also repeatedly presented the project to Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, who granted it his support.

The organization sponsoring the event, Tenda di Gionata, is an umbrella organization of the Progetto Gionata (Project Jonathan), which is a “cultural volunteer project aimed at making known the journey that LGBT Christians (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) take every day in their communities and in the various Churches, so that these experiences can help society and the Churches to open up to understanding and welcoming homosexual people.”

While the project has faced criticism for its approach, and its use of the acronym LGBT, organizers have drawn from the work of Fr. James Martin, SJ, quoting Martin to explain that the acronym is “theologically useful and respectful” and “referring to LGBT people with the name they currently use for themselves, is part of the ‘respect’ required by the Catechism.”

Organizers also mention that their project was born “during a spiritual retreat and explored further during the preparation for the ‘Vigil against Homophobia’ in June 2007, became concrete in September 2007 with the birth of the [website], and continues its journey to this day, taking on the new needs that have emerged within the LGBT Christian community and their families.”

The website publishes pastoral resources drawing from its pastoral approach, some of which include controversial claims, including the argument that Saint Paul did not condemn homosexual acts in any of his letters.

“Many biblical scholars have debunked the idea that the Bible condemns today's concept of a loving and responsible homosexual relationship, using very convincing arguments: passages that many believe prohibit homosexuality are mistranslated and/or quoted out of context,” an article says.

“Prejudices against homosexuality have caused a misunderstanding of the original texts; some of the passages attributed to Paul were probably written by his assistants; and the Scriptures must be interpreted in the light of history and reason,” it adds.

So is the pilgrimage a part of the Jubilee Year? Did the pope okay it?

Many media outlets reporting on the pilgrimage have called it an “LGBT jubilee” — comparing it to the Vatican-sponsored thematic jubilee events, like the Jubilee of Young People or the Jubilee for the Elderly.

But the Vatican has said otherwise.

Italian media — and social media commentators — have reported that Pope Francis green-lighted the inclusion of the pilgrimage in the Jubilee’s official calendar, and noted that the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and organizer of the Jubilee, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, saying that the pilgrimage “is in the calendar, like many other events.”

However, a spokesperson of the dicastery told Reuters that the activities of the pilgrimage “are not sponsored activities.”

The event is listed in the official general calendar of the Jubilee Year, along with more than 300 other pilgrimages, which were scheduled by dioceses and Catholic institutions around the world, and officially registered with the Jubilee Year office.

The pilgrimage is listed in that calendar as a “Pilgrimage of the association La Tenda di Gionata and other associations.”

But the pilgrimage does not appear on the website’s “calendar of major events,” which includes the opening of the Jubilee Year, and the Vatican-sponsored events, like the Jubilee of Young People, Jubilee for Prisoners, Jubilee of the Poor, among many others.