Last weekend, a group of pilgrims from Drachma LGBTI+ and Drachma Parents joined about 1400 other LGBTIQ+ pilgrims from all over the world in what was a historic first Jubilee pilgrimage organised for LGBTIQ+ Catholic pilgrims under the pseudonym Jubilee for Tenda di Gionata and other Associations. Tenda di Gionata is a Catholic LGBTI+ group like Drachma operating in Italy that had managed to obtain the permission to host this pilgrimage. Drachma, with a contingent of 10 members, joined under the banner of the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics (GNRC), an umbrella network of about 50 LGBTI+ organisations from all over the world, which was also one of the official partners for this pilgrimage.
This was a historic first, in many and many ways. Just 25 years ago, a colleague of mine who had tried to attend the Jubilee held in 2000 was hustled by security simply because she sported a Rainbow flag. Then, the shadow of terms like ‘objectively disordered’ and ‘homosexual tendencies’, as well as the shame of rejection, held very strongly on LGBTIQ+ Catholics who wished to integrate their sexuality with their spirituality. Over the past quarter of a century, there has been a sea change in social perspectives around the world, with the introduction of LGBTIQ+ human rights, and the right to civil unions and civil marriage. Even the Church during the pontificate of Pope Francis adopted a more humane pastoral approach towards LGBTIQ+ people, and while there have been no changes to the doctrine of the Church, there has been a grounded conversion in the way the Church looks at LGBTIQ+ people. The decision therefore to host this Jubilee was another grounded pastoral decision made in the synodal spirit that welcomes LGBTIQ+ persons as children of God.
I did not really know what to expect during these few days we spent in Rome. Part of me was afraid of the potential opposition and protests made by right-wing Catholics whose mission is to exclude LGBTIQ+ Catholics. Thankfully, there were no such protests. Instead, the experience of over 1000 people packing the beautiful Jesuit Chiesa di Gesu’ in the heart of Rome, singing, praying, reflecting and joyously celebrating our faith in Christ during a beautiful vigil service on Friday remains etched in my memory. As one of the celebrants exclaimed ‘Our eyes have known the tears of rejection… Today, however, there are other tears, tears of hope’.
On Saturday, the Chiesa di Gesu’ hosted a beautiful mass with over forty priests involved in pastoral accompaniment with LGBTIQ+ persons, joining the over 1000+ congregation of LGBTIQ+ persons, parents, nuns and members of consecrated life. We heard the President of the Italian Episcopal Conference Bishop Francesco Savino mentioning the warm and tender encouragement given by the Pope to the Bishop when he mentioned that he was going to celebrate mass for us. Equally poignant was his call that ‘It is time to restore dignity to everyone, especially to those to whom it has been denied. Dignity is indelible’. While such words echo the words of the Catechism that urge against discrimination, hearing it from this bishop at that special moment, made this strong public announcement a memorable and special one. In a reminder that there is still a long way for authentic inclusion in the Church and society, we were informed that no African pilgrim was granted a VISA to attend this celebration. Several countries in Africa have regrettably criminalised homosexuality in the past few years, often with the blessing of local Catholic leaders.
In the afternoon on Saturday, we joined about 1400 other pilgrims for the pilgrimage walk along Via della Conciliazione towards and through Piazza San Pietro before finally entering through the Jubilee Door. I cannot explain the feeling that I felt as we walked through the Holy Doors, hand in hand with my husband. Who would have told us a few years ago when we last visited St Peter’s, that we could candidly hold hands without shame, sporting Drachma’s T-shirt proudly stating that ‘I am fearfully and wonderfully made’ (Psalm 139:14) and not feeling any shame or embarrassment. This pilgrimage walk on Saturday was also meaningful given that had we been in Malta, on this same day, we would have participated in the Gozo Pride. While our pilgrimage walk was by no means a pride march in the classical sense, as it was not intended to be a protest march, we walked just the same, as we do at every pride march, as witnesses to the dignity we hold, as humans, as children of God, as Catholics, and as LGBTIQ+ persons and proud parents of LGBTIQ+ persons. While it is good to normalise our participation in the life of the Church and participating in a pilgrimage with other pilgrims, we also remain grateful for our queerness and difference, which is in itself God’s gift to us and to the Church.
In the evening, hundreds of pilgrims shared dinner in a homely environment at the St Paul’s Episcopalian Church in Rome hosted by the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics (GNRC), where we shared experiences and memories of the day. This was indeed an important evocation of GNRC’s mission to bring LGBTIQ+ Catholics together from around the world.
The climax of the Jubilee experience
Ironically, my husband and I experienced the true portent of this Jubilee experience, only after the end of this pilgrimage. On Sunday, we were walking along the roads of Rome, and we decided to attend mass at a random church in Rome. While it was quite a normal Sunday mass in a place not remotely linked to LGBTIQ+ issues, this mass was the first time ever that I heard a priest, in a random church in a random mass, publicly and unashamedly call LGBTIQ+ persons by our name – not by a pseudonym, or worse still by some grotesque title such as ‘people with homosexual tendencies’ or ‘homosexualists’ – as has often been the case by people of the Church. He not only mentioned LGBTIQ people specifically, and explained the names distinctly, but unreservedly and unashamedly embraced us as children of God, with dignity, with a genuine yearning of love. He unequivocally explained that God’s love is unconditional and brings no shame on LGBTIQ+ people. I had never ever heard such a message so beautifully, and yet so bluntly and publicly during a random mass that was not specifically organised for LGBTIQ+ people. It was so powerful that both my husband and I ended up shedding tears of gratitude to God for this grace. To me, indeed, while the events of the previous days were seemingly climactic, this mass was an unexpected and yet truly providential moment that enraptured our hearts in a most singular way. It really proved to be a truly sublime end to what has been an extraordinary LGBT Jubilee pilgrimage of hope!
I hold these memories in my heart and look forward in hope to a time when we are called by name, not by a pseudonym or a slur, and where there is no embarrassment or shame for being Catholic and queer.
Chris Vella
GNRC Co-Chair and President of Drachma LGBTI+