The Vatican has approved new guidelines that opens the door for gay men in Italy to become priests.

The New York Times on Jan. 10 reported the Vatican approved the guidelines the Italian Bishop’s Conference adopted last November.

The guidelines specifically stipulate seminaries cannot reject applicants simply because of their sexual orientation, as long as they remain celibate. They will remain in place for what the Times described as a “3-year trial period.”

“This development is a big step forward,” said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based LGBTQ Catholic organization, in a press release. “It clarifies previous ambiguous statements about gay seminary candidates, which viewed them with suspicion. This ambiguity caused lots of fear and discrimination in the church, way beyond the arena of seminary admissions.”

“This new clarification treats gay candidates in the same way that heterosexual candidates are treated,” added DeBernardo. “That type of equal treatment is what the church should be aiming for in regards to all LGBTQ+ issues.”

The Vatican in 2016 reaffirmed gay men becoming priests.

“The church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture,’” reads a document the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy released that Pope Francis approved.

The document essentially reaffirmed the Vatican’s 2005 position on the issue. (Benedict XVI was pope at the time.)

The Vatican’s tone towards LGBTQ and intersex issues has softened since Francis became pope in 2013.

Francis publicly backs civil unions for same-sex couples, and has described laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust.” Francis in 2023 said priests can bless same-sex couples.

The pontiff earlier this month named Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego, who DeBernardo notes has made “strong positive statements regarding LGBTQ+ issues,” as the new archbishop of Washington. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Brian Burch, the president and co-founder of CatholicVote, an anti-LGBTQ Catholic group, to become the next U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

Francis during a 2023 interview with an Argentine newspaper described gender ideology as “one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations” in the world because “it blurs differences and the value of men and women.” A declaration the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released last March with Francis’s approval condemned gender-affirming surgeries and “gender theory.”

A law that extends marriage rights to same-sex couples in Liechtenstein took effect on Wednesday.

Lawmakers in the small European country that borders Switzerland and Austria approved a marriage equality bill in May 2024. Liechtenstein is the last country in which German is the primary language to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Switzerland and Austria since 2022 and 2019 respectively. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Germany since 2017.

“This milestone is a testament to the dedication and advocacy of countless individuals who worked tirelessly for equality,” said the U.S. Embassy in Bern, the Swiss capital, in an X post.  

Congratulations to 🇱🇮 on the enactment of same-sex marriage, effective as of today! This milestone is a testament to the dedication and advocacy of countless individuals who worked tirelessly for equality. Wishing everyone a joyful and inclusive start to the New Year! 🌈✨ pic.twitter.com/ZbG5Vd4tOf

— U.S. Embassy Bern (@USEmbassyBern) January 1, 2025

The Washington Blade in 2022 interviewed Scott Miller, the openly gay U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. He was among those who spoke at Liechtenstein’s first-ever Pride event that took place that year.

“It will be a discussion that I think activists will have to work on a lot,” he said, referring to marriage equality efforts in Liechtenstein. “I will support (them) in any way I can.”

A group of LGBTQ Christians in Italy has said the Vatican has approved its request to make a pilgrimage during the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee.

The National Catholic Register on Dec. 11 reported La Tenda di Gionata (Jonathan’s Tent) — an Italian Christian group that helps “LGBT people and their families feel welcome in their church” — asked members to “save the date” of Sept. 6, 2025, and invited “all associations and groups dedicated to supporting LGBT+ individuals and their families to join us as we officially cross the Holy Door of the Jubilee at St. Peter’s Basilica” at 3 p.m.

The National Catholic Register notes the pilgrims have also been invited to a Mass at the Jesuit Church of the Gesù that Msgr. Francesco Savino, vice president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, will celebrate.

Church Jubilees take place every 25 years.

Jubilee 2025 officially begins on Christmas Eve.

Jubilee spokesperson Agnese Palmucci confirmed to the National Catholic Register that La Tenda di Gionata’s proposed pilgrimage has been “included in the general calendar as a pilgrimage, along with all the other pilgrimages that other dioceses will make,” but noted it is “not a Jubilee event sponsored or organized by us.” 

“It is a pilgrimage organized by this association which, like the other dioceses, bodies and associations, will make the pilgrimage as they wish,” said Palmucci.

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based LGBTQ Catholic organization, on Dec. 10 noted he traveled to Rome in 2000, the last Jubilee year, and spoke at the first WorldPride that took place that summer.

“One of the things I remember most about that time was the anger expressed by the Vatican and the pope himself that World Pride was taking place in Rome during the Jubilee year,” wrote DeBernardo on New Ways Ministry’s website. “Perhaps particularly galling to John Paul II was that the pride event was taking place in the first week of July, which was the same week that pilgrims from the pope’s native Poland were scheduled to flood the city. And indeed, everywhere you looked you saw people with bright red neckerchiefs, a symbol of Polish heritage.”

DeBenardo noted the “mood in” Rome “was incredibly tense.”

“Vatican anti-gay rhetoric had fueled anti-gay sentiment beyond the Catholic Church, and many right-wing Italian political groups were denouncing World Pride, which was to culminate in a march from the Porta San Paolo to the Colosseum,” he wrote. “Anti-gay messages were plastered all over the city buildings. One message in particular remains strong in my memory: ‘Gay al Colosseo? Sì, con i leoni.’ (Translation: ‘Gays at the Colosseum? Yes, with lions.’)”

DeBenardo wrote the inclusion of an LGBTQ pilgrimage during the 2025 Jubilee “touched my heart.”

“While 2025’s event may seem like a small step, when compared with how the Vatican reacted to the presence of gay people in Rome during 2000, we can see what a sea change has taken place in terms of responding to LGBTQ+ people,” he said.

The Vatican’s tone towards LGBTQ and intersex issues has softened since Pope Francis assumed the papacy in 2013.

Francis publicly backs civil unions for same-sex couples, and has described laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust.” 

He met with two African LGBTQ activists — Clare Byarugaba of Chapter Four Uganda and Rightify Ghana Director Ebenezer Peegah — at the Vatican on Aug. 14. Sister Jeannine Gramick, one of the co-founders of New Ways Ministry, organized a meeting between Francis and a group of transgender and intersex Catholics and LGBTQ allies that took place at the pontiff’s official residence on Oct. 12.

Francis during a 2023 interview with an Argentine newspaper described gender ideology as “one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations” in the world because “it blurs differences and the value of men and women.” A declaration the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released in March with Francis’s approval condemned gender-affirming surgeries and “gender theory.”