Over 1,000 LGBTQ+ Catholics and their families participated in a Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome on Saturday, celebrating a new level of acceptance in the Catholic Church after long feeling shunned, and crediting Pope Francis with the change.
Some wept as they walked through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in the rite of passage of Holy Year pilgrims. They said the moment felt important, historic even, in the life of the church and their community.
“It just felt epic, like I was able to touch the hand of God,” said Justin del Rosario, who carried a big wooden crucifix across the threshold of the Holy Door with a group of pilgrims from the United States that included his husband.
Several LGBTQ+ groups participated in the pilgrimage, which was listed in the Vatican’s official calendar of events for the Holy Year, the once-every-quarter century celebration of Catholicism. Vatican organizers stressed that the listing in the calendar didn’t signal endorsement or sponsorship, but was a logistical tool to help organizers and pilgrims alike.
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One of my daughters is in Rome and just filmed the alphabet ‘pilgrimage’ walking into St Peter’s Basilica. Lost in a huge crowd of pilgrimage groups, they just now finally emerged. So far, kind of a nothing burger for them. But we’ll see what happens next. pic.twitter.com/PokFuJfaGd
— Michael J. Matt (@Michael_J_Matt) September 6, 2025
"F*ck the Rules" inside Saint Peter's
The LGBT group La Tenda di Gionata makes their entrance into St. Peter's Basilica today, along with several other pilgrimage groups who were on the Jubilee Year calendar. But La Tenda… claws out and F*ck the Rules… this is the New… pic.twitter.com/dc49Mr6Y3t— Michael J. Matt (@Michael_J_Matt) September 6, 2025
I would like the Pope, @JamesMartinSJ and the rest of the synodal fathers and “mothers” to reflect on the scandal they’ve unleashed on the little ones who still bother to practice the Catholic Faith. This was my daughter’s first visit to the Basilica of St. Peter, and she was… pic.twitter.com/6JpgvAj3pQ
— Michael J. Matt (@Michael_J_Matt) September 6, 2025