A few months ago, after a long day of round tables, someone said: “We don’t need another project. We need space.”
That sentence stayed with me because it named something real. True accompaniment rarely begins with slogans, strategies, or branded programmes. It happens quietly, in the patient work of priests, religious sisters, and other believers who listen, make room, pray with people, reflect with them, and stay close enough for trust to grow. None of this is new. It has been happening for a long time, in Italy and beyond. There are pastoral paths that have lasted years, sometimes whole seasons of life. At times, that river rises enough to be seen more clearly, as happened during the LGBT+ pilgrimage in Rome. And yet, for many, these experiences still appear only in fragments: a conversation here, a small group there, a testimony that surfaces for a while and then slips back under.
Much of this remains half unseen, or at least half hidden, beneath the noise of conflict and polarised narratives. There is depth. But there is continuity, and like a river running partly underground, its real size is difficult to see.
The need is real, to answer to that cry: we need space. My name is Alessandro, and I would like to invite you into something.
It is called Called by Name. Not because it wants to become one more labelled project, but because I wanted to answer that need for space in a personal way. Not with a structure that absorbs everything into one line, but with a simple form that allows invitations to happen. Invitations offered by priests and religious sisters who speak from what they have seen, lived, and learned while walking alongside LGBT+ people and their families.
That is also why this initiative is coordinated by a person, and then shared by organisations that help it become visible, circulate, and reach others. They support it, they pass it on, they invite their members to join, but they do not own it. The hosts, too, are introduced one by one, called by name.
Among the first are Sr. Enrica Solmi, Don Andrea Conocchia, Don Marco Torre, Don Andrea Bigalli, and Don Luca Lunardon. Their themes are rich, their paths are different, and more about them can be found on the webpage. What matters here is that each invitation begins from a real pastoral journey.
So this is not a conference series, and not a debate platform. It is an online space for prayer, reflection, listening, and dialogue. A space where accompaniment is not only discussed, but shared. Invitation after invitation, perhaps a path can take shape, and perhaps some of what has long remained half hidden may begin to be seen more clearly.
More about the initiative, the hosts, and the themes can be found here:
https://rainbowcatholics.org/calledbyname
The meetings will be offered in Italian and English, thanks to live translation, and many groups already support the visibility and believe in this path, including GNRC, Outreach, La Tenda di Gionata, and Drachma.
I invite you to register, to join, and to pray with us. Perhaps this path may offer you what so many people quietly need: a little space, a living voice, and the hope of not walking alone.