Italy’s Catholic bishops gathered to discuss the integration of LGBT-identifying people and their families into ordinary diocesan life.
On September 4, nearly 200 pastoral workers and around 10 bishops gathered at the General Curia of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in Rome for Italy’s first national conference dedicated to “pastoral ministry with homosexual and transgender people.”
The meeting, titled “Good Practices in Pastoral Ministry with Homosexual and Transgender People,” presented initiatives already operating in several Italian dioceses, while also examining the development of national guidelines for LGBT pastoral ministry.
“We have begun a journey whose destination we do not yet know, but which is certainly on the side of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters,” said Jesuit priest Giuseppe Piva, who organized the conference’s pastoral team.
The Diocese of Cremona presented its “First Steps” initiative, prepared in 2023 and now adopted throughout the dioceses in the region of Lombardy. Bishop Antonio Napolioni said the project seeks to offer criteria for understanding situations involving so-called LGBT Catholics, to address experiences of suffering, to involve families, and to establish diocesan teams receiving ongoing formation.
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