Hundreds of LGBTQ+ Catholics and their families descended on Rome for a Holy Year pilgrimage Saturday, celebrating a level of acceptance in the Catholic Church after long feeling shunned that many attribute to Pope Francis’ attitude of welcome.

Among the pilgrims who arrived in Rome on Saturday morning were Francesca Borselli, 51, and Anna Maria Massara, 47, a lesbian couple who traveled from Florence with their 8-year-old daughter, who has had a disability since birth.

Francesca and Anna Maria were among the first couples to enter into a civil union in Florence in 2016, and after six years of custody, their 8-year-old daughter was finally adopted in April 2023.

Upon their arrival in Rome, Francesca and their daughter, who joint the pilgrimage wearing a knit rainbow hat, went to the Chiesa del Gesu, the main Jesuit church in Rome, to take part in the Mass celebrated for the pilgrims by the vice president of the Italian bishops conference, Bishop Franceseco Savino.

Savino received a standing ovation in the middle of his homily when he recalled that in the Bible, Jubilee years were meant to forgive debts and restore hope to those on the margins.

"The Jubilee was the time to free the oppressed and restore dignity to those who had been denied it," he said. “Brothers and sisters, I say this with emotion: It is time to restore dignity to everyone, especially to those who have been denied it.”

Francesca and Anna Maria came as part of the group Kairos Homosexual Christians Association from Florence.

Several LGBTQ+ groups signed up to participate 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.

The main organizing group was an Italian LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, “Jonathan’s Tent,” but the pilgrimage also included Outreach, the U.S. group founded by the Rev. James Martin, a prominent Jesuit priest who has advocated for greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ Catholics in the church.

After spending several hours queuing under the sun and walking along Via della Conciliazione, the family — including their 8-year-old daughter and Francesca, who has difficulty walking — finally passed through the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday afternoon together with many other pilgrims.

I really cared about this day," Anna Maria said. "I carry it in the heart because, I still may not know what it means, but it certainly makes sense and I hope it will be discovered slowly."

AP Video shot by Isaia Montelione

Production by Selene Celmente, Suzanne Lowry