Testimony of Lucia and Remo, participants in the Jubilee Pilgrimage of “La Tenda di Gionata and other associations” at the Church of the Gesù in Rome, September 5, 2025
“How good and joyful it is when brothers dwell together, like oil running down the beard, perfuming even the garments.” These words from Psalm 132 capture well the experience of the evening of September 5, 2025, in the Church of the Gesù in Rome, during the prayer vigil of the 1,400 participants in the Jubilee Pilgrimage of “La Tenda di Gionata and other associations.”
Different languages and colors blending in song and prayer, fingers intertwined and tear-filled eyes meeting another’s gaze, tears dried by a smile and an embrace, strangers recognizing each other as brothers and sisters.
No ostentation, no demands, no shouted pride, no unruly gestures. None were needed. God sufficed, the tangible love of God poured out on each person sufficed and filled to the brim.
This was, for us, the prayer vigil of the Jubilee of LGBTQ+ people (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans, queer, etc.), their families, and the pastors who accompany them.
What joy You have given us, Lord of heaven, Lord of the great universe.
What joy You have given us, clothed in light,
clothed in infinite glory.
To see You risen, to see You Lord,
our hearts almost burst.
You have returned, You are here among us,
and now we will have You forever.
In this song we recognized the spirit lived in the Mass of September 6.
All of us pressed around the altar, filling every corner of that great church in the heart of Rome. We already knew we were the Church, the People of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, wretched and chosen, sinners yet called by name. But we wanted to sing this awareness, celebrate it, offer it, and share it with the whole Church and with the world.
For many of us, especially the older ones, but also parents and young people still searching, that moment was another coming out of the closet of hiding and fear of being oneself. Coming out because we are called to life without end, called to authenticity and to the responsibility of being alive.
On Saturday afternoon, instead, came the going out into the world, blending with other pilgrims, united in carrying our crosses and our hopes, companions on the road of the Via della Conciliazione. Never was a name more fitting than that day, for that path leading from Porta Pia, a historical memory of a unity both painful and fiercely willed, to the Holy Door of St. Peter’s, the place of welcome and encounter.
Three moments marked the Jubilee of the LGBTQ+ people, but joining on Sunday with the universal Church, which rejoiced at the canonization of two young saints (Piergiorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis), also carried profound meaning for us. The family of the Church is one, and celebrating together is to live the joy and the responsibility of belonging.
Some say that in Rome there was a Pride disguised by a Vatican LGBTQ+ lobby. Probably those tearing their garments at the scandal never lifted their eyes from their own fears. Had they done so, they would have seen a people who do not need to clamor for rights, because they are already clothed in the dignity of children.
On the other hand, others asked why LGBTQ+ believers continue to beg recognition from a Church entrenched in its closures, clinging to the dictates of the Catechism and the magisterium.
Two fronts, apparently opposed, but born of the same vision: a Church plastered over, incapable of conversion and mercy. A safe fortress for some, an unassailable prison for others.
Yet once again, the creativity of God cannot be stopped, the Spirit blows where and when it wills.
We too, who lived this Pentecost, this Tabor (as someone suggested), must not fall into the temptation of wanting to build three tents.
Instead, let us come down from the mountain and allow ourselves to be amazed. Great things the Lord has done for us, and now: behold, I am doing something new, do you not perceive it?
Article Courtesy of www.Gionata.org