Pope Francis invited trans women to guest at lunch to celebrate the Catholic Church's World Day of the Poor in Torvaianica, Italy, and welcome and build a remarkable relationship with the LGBT community on Sunday.
Trans women have now visited Pope Francis monthly, where they were given VIP seats. They have received handouts of medicine, cash, and shampoo, and the Vatican also prioritized these women to acquire vaccination in health facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pope Francis Invites Trans Women at Catholic Church's Lunch
Pope Francis greets the crowd as he arrives for the weekly general audience on September 27, 2023 at St Peter's square in The Vatican.
The trans women invited to the lunch were mainly Latin American migrants who worked as prostitutes and joined over 1,000 other poor and homeless people in the Vatican auditorium.
Francis believed that the marginalized communities should be treated with utmost dignity. The menu at lunch proved Francis' belief as they served cannelloni pasta filled with spinach and ricotta to start, meatballs in a tomato-basil sauce and cauliflower puree, and tiramisu with petit fours for dessert.
The lunch was Francis's latest gesture of inclusion for the marginalized trans community of Torvaianica, which marks his papacy in word and deed.
Andrea Paola Torres Lopez, a Colombian transgender woman known as Consuelo, said that they were not welcome at the church before and saw them as the devil until Francis came and opened the doors to them.
According to ABC News, several LGBT organizations embraced Francis' message of inclusivity as the community has been suffering discrimination in the church that teaches homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.
GLAAD and DignityUSA, an organization working for respect and justice, said that Francis' note was to convey a message to political and cultural leaders to end their expulsion, exclusion, and discrimination against the LGBT community.
The trans community recognized Francis' message was a sign of a more personal approach to them, and their stories were heard, and the church wanted to include them.
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Trans Women as Godparents
The Vatican's doctrine office has recently approved that trans women could be baptized, godparents, and witnesses in weddings. Francis also suggested that same-sex couples could receive blessings from the church.
In January, Francis finally reversed his comment way back in 2013, saying, "Who am I to judge?" to an allegedly gay priest and said, "Being homosexual is not a crime." He cleared that "todos, todos, todos" - is a child of God, is loved by God, and is welcome in the church.
Carla Segovia, a 46-year-old trans woman and Argentine sex worker, said that being a godparent was the closest thing she would ever get to having a child of her own. She said that the new norms were more welcoming and comfortable.
"This norm from Pope Francis brings me closer to finding that absolute serenity," she said.
Claudia Vittoria Salas, a 55-year-old transgender tailor and house cleaner, said she was already a godparent to three nieces and nephews. She said that her earnings from prostitution were for the education of her godchildren.
She said that being a godparent was a big responsibility and was like a replacement for a mother and a father.
Related Article: Vatican Announces Baptism for Transgender People, Church Welcomes LGBT Community
