Catholic Church in Italy Apologizes to the LGBT Community

On May 20, 2026, a prayer vigil dedicated to combating homophobia and transphobia took place in the Italian city of Chiavari. During the service, representatives of the Catholic community publicly asked forgiveness from LGBT people and their families for discrimination, isolation, violence, and silence on the part of the Church.

Bishop Giampio Luigi Devasini of the Diocese of Chiavari attended the vigil. The apology text was prepared by the “Amore In Cammino” (Love on the Journey) group, which operates under the diocesan Family Pastoral Office. This group includes LGBT Catholics, their parents, and other believers. Their work is accompanied by a priest.

In the text, the Church did not limit itself to general words about inclusion, but acknowledged the specific harm caused to LGBT people. Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry , noted that this document could serve as a model for other Catholic leaders and institutions when drafting their own apologies.

In the statement, the Catholics of Chiavari admitted their guilt on several points:

Silence and Indifference

The authors of the text admitted that the Church remained silent when LGBT people faced loneliness, discrimination at work, and rejection in their families. “We preferred the comfort of our certainty to the difficult path of compassion,” the text says.

Judgment

The believers asked for forgiveness for building walls instead of helping, judging people without trying to listen to them, and excluding them from the community. They admitted that through their words they made LGBT people feel like strangers in the Church and instilled in them the idea of a contradiction between faith and their love.

Justification of Violence

The authors took responsibility for creating an environment in which hatred found justification. They asked forgiveness for cases when Church teaching, distorted by prejudice, was used for aggression and bullying.

Denial of Spirituality

The text includes an apology for the direct or indirect assertion that the love of LGBT people is less holy or less pleasing to God. The authors called attempts to separate sexual orientation or gender identity from the ability to be children of God an “insult to the Holy Spirit.”

Past Persecutions

The believers recalled historical periods when the Church supported unjust laws, encouraged discrimination, and the death of people because of their identity. “We ask forgiveness for the blood that was shed and the tears that were spilled… We acknowledge that this is a sin that cries out before God,” the text concludes.