Hundreds of LGBTQ Catholics and their families took part in a Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome on Saturday, celebrating a new level of acceptance in the Catholic Church after long feeling shunned and crediting Pope Francis with the change.
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The vice-president of the Italian bishops conference, Bishop Francesco Savino, celebrated Mass for the pilgrims in a packed Chiesa del Gesu, the main Jesuit church in Rome. He received a sustained standing ovation in the middle of his homily when he recalled that Jubilee celebrations historically were meant to restore hope to those on the margins.
“The Jubilee was the time to free the oppressed and restore dignity to those who had been denied it,” he said. “Brothers and sisters, I say this with emotion: It is time to restore dignity to everyone, especially to those who have been denied it.”
Several LGBTQ groups took part in the pilgrimage, which was listed in the Vatican’s official calendar of events for the Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration of Catholicism. Vatican organisers stressed that the listing in the calendar did not signal endorsement or sponsorship.
The main organiser of the pilgrimage was an Italian LGBTQ advocacy organisation, “Jonathan’s Tent”, but other groups took part, including DignityUSA and Outreach, another US group.
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