Pope Leo XIV to Break Bread with Trans Catholic Activists at Jubilee for the Poor
Trans Catholic activist Alessia Nobile will dine with Pope Leo XIV at a Vatican lunch during the Church鈥檚 Jubilee of the Poor, she will joined by other trans activists at the event.
Nobile sees the invitation as a signal that the new pontiff may uphold the spirit of inclusion championed by Pope Francis.
The meeting takes place amid global debates about trans inclusion, including in sport and comes following the new Pope’s stance on same-sex marriage.
Pope Leo XIV to dine with trans activists
Pope Leo XIV is set to meet and dine with Alessia Nobile and several other transgender Catholic activists during the Vatican鈥檚 annual Jubilee lunch for the marginalised.
View this post on Instagram
The event, held in St Peter鈥檚 Basilica and followed by a communal meal, coincides with the World Day of the Poor and symbolically extends an invitation to people often excluded or judged.
Nobile, 46, is one of five transgender women personally invited to the gathering after requesting an audience with the new Pope. She has expressed hope that Leo will continue the inclusive trajectory of his predecessor, Pope Francis. 鈥淚 ask Leo not to go backwards on rights,鈥� she told Italian media.
Her involvement is deeply personal. As a teenager, Nobile endured secret 鈥渆xorcism鈥� rites by a school religion teacher and even pressure on her family to consider electroshock therapy. In spite of that trauma, she remained a practising Catholic, eventually publishing her memoir, La bambina invisibile.
Nobile recalled her first meeting with Pope Francis in 2022 as transformational, he became a mentor and friend, encouraging her to speak out she said 鈥渟o prejudice does not grow鈥� and reminding her that 鈥渋n the eyes of God, we are all His children” she said.
She later received a handwritten letter from him affirming God鈥檚 unconditional love, a gesture she described as 鈥渦nrepeatable.鈥�
Now, with Pope Leo XIV who was elected in May, Nobile hopes this will continue. While his public statements to date have been mixed, including his stance on same-sex marriage, her invitation to the Jubilee suggests a willingness to consider alternate views on the churches stance on LGBTQIA+ issues.
You May Also Like
