The Vatican has included an event hosted by LGBT Catholics in its official online calendar for the upcoming 2025 Roman Catholic holy year, in an unusual sign of openness by the global church to the gay community.
A pilgrimage by the Italian group “La Tenda di Gionata” (Jonathan’s Tent), set for next September, is listed among hundreds of events planned for the Jubilee, which is expected to bring 32 million tourists to Rome next year.
The group, which describes its goal as promoting the welcome of LGBT people within the church, is expected to hold a prayer vigil at a local Rome parish before traveling to St. Peter’s Basilica.
A Vatican official told Reuters that including the group on the calendar did not endorse its events.
“They are not sponsored activities,” said Agnes Palmucci, spokeswoman for the Vatican’s Evangelization Office, which is organizing the jubilee.
Rome is the global center of the Catholic Holy Year, which opens on December 24, Christmas Eve, and runs through January 6, 2026. Jubilees of this type usually occur once every 25 years.
Catholic pilgrims coming to Rome during the Jubilee can pass through special “holy doors” that will be open to St. Peter’s and three other basilicas in Rome.
The Vatican is primarily concerned with ensuring all pilgrims have the opportunity to pass through the “holy doors,” Palmucci said.
She said, ‘Once we know that there is a place, we will keep the pilgrimage in the normal calendar.
Pope Francis has been credited with leading the Catholic Church to adopt a more welcoming approach to the LGBT community, allowing priests to bless same-sex couples on a case-by-case basis.