A historic pilgrimage: Why LGBTQ Catholics hope Pope Leo will take up Francis’ legacy

By Christopher Lamb, CNN

Rome (CNN) — The Church of the Gesù in central Rome was packed, as a procession with a cross in rainbow colors moved up the central aisle. The service marked the first officially recognized pilgrimage of LGBTQ Catholics to Rome.

Around 1,000 pilgrims gathered Friday in the 17th century baroque church to play music, pray and reflect, while on Saturday they processed to St Peter’s Basilica, entering through the basilica’s Holy Door, which symbolizes forgiveness and reconciliation. The door is only opened in the Catholic Church’s jubilee years, falling every 25 years, including 2025.

The pilgrimage, listed on the official calendar of jubilee events, comes as gay Catholics look to Pope Leo XIV to continue down the bold path of his predecessor to welcome into the church a group that has in the past faced alienation and sometimes harsh treatment. During his 12-year pontificate, Pope Francis repeatedly said LGBTQ Catholics should be welcomed as “children of God” and took the landmark steps of authorizing blessings to same-sex couples and calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality in Africa.

“I think this is opening up the church to so many more people, to whole families, and it’s just such a welcoming experience,” Cory Shade, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, told CNN as she walked alongside hundreds of pilgrims to St Peter’s Basilica.

Before their procession Saturday, the pilgrims gathered for a Mass in the Gesù church held by a senior Italian bishop, Francesco Savino.

Hopes that Leo will build on Francis’ legacy were raised earlier this week when he met the Reverend James Martin, a New York-based priest, author and prominent advocate for LGBTQ Catholics who had a warm relationship with the late pontiff. Martin is leading an LGBTQ group from the United States on the Rome pilgrimage. A Jesuit like Francis, Martin was granted a private audience by Leo in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, a move widely seen as showing support for his work.

Backing up that interpretation, Martin told CNN after Friday’s service: “The message I heard from Pope Leo is that he’s going to continue the legacy of Pope Francis in his ministry with LGBTQ people, which is a ministry of openness and welcome.”

Similarly, Michael O’Loughlin, leader of LGBTQ Catholic group Outreach, told CNN that the pilgrimage was a “huge moment” and that LGBTQ people are “cautiously optimistic” Pope Leo will continue what Francis started.

Some believe that the Rome LGBTQ pilgrimage would not be taking place were it not for Francis.

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of the New Ways Ministry, a US organization advocating for LGBTQ people, was in Rome during the 2000 jubilee year, which also saw the first WorldPride events. He noted that the events were condemned by then-Pope John Paul II and said “anti-gay rhetoric” was coming from parts of the Vatican at the time. “Twenty-five years later LGBTQ Catholics are being welcomed through the Holy Door at the Vatican,” he told CNN. “It’s a big change.”

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sex is only permitted between a man and woman who are married. The church’s official principles describe homosexuality as “intrinsically disordered” – wording that some Catholics want to see altered – but also state that gay people must be treated with “respect, compassion and sensitivity” and all “unjust discrimination” must be avoided.

Although Francis never changed the official teaching, he substantially shifted the church’s approach to gay people, starting with his famous response “Who am I to judge?” when asked for his view of gay priests. In another example, Francis came out in support of civil unions for same-sex couples, something previously opposed by the Vatican’s doctrine office.

In 2012, some LGBTQ people were concerned by a speech by then-Reverend Robert Prevost criticizing the “homosexual lifestyle” and the media’s sympathetic portrayal of “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”

When asked about those remarks in 2023, however, the newly appointed Cardinal Prevost said “we are looking to be more welcoming and more open and to say all people are welcome in the church” and that Francis had made it clear no one should be excluded “simply on the basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to dress, or whatever.”

Still, acceptance of LGBTQ people remains controversial among Catholics, with deep disagreement over blessings and marriages of same-sex couples, as among most Christians.

Juan Pablo O’Connell contributed reporting.

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