In a significant departure from his predecessor's approach, Pope Leo XIV has reportedly excluded a group of 48 transgender women from his head table during the Vatican's annual 'lunch for the poor' event on Sunday, November 16.
A Noticeable Change in Vatican Protocol
The gathering, held in the sprawling Paul VI Hall, attracted more than 1,300 attendees including migrants, homeless individuals, disabled guests, and low-income families. However, the transgender women, who had been personally welcomed by Pope Francis at papal audiences and seated at his head table in both 2023 and 2024, found themselves positioned at separate tables throughout the hall.
Alessia Nobile, an Italian transgender author who had experienced the previous pope's warmth firsthand, expressed her disappointment. "That he'd mingle, that he [sat] close to [us], that's a good sign, right?" Nobile commented, revealing her hopes that Pope Leo would continue Francis's inclusive approach.
Mixed Reactions and Official Explanations
Nobile managed to hand the new pontiff a letter "on behalf of the trans community" but received only a smile in return. Many of the other women never got close enough to speak with him at all.
Vatican organizers have strongly denied any deliberate exclusion. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Vatican's longtime organizer of papal charity events, explained to The Washington Post that head-table seats were distributed "randomly" to parishioners who attended an earlier Mass. He noted that the transgender women "had arrived late" and cautioned against interpreting the seating arrangement as symbolic.
"The church is open to everyone," Krajewski emphasized. "It's not about [Leo] meaning to carry on this outreach. They came because they're an integral part of the church, that is all."
Community Response and Future Outlook
The Reverend Andrea Conocchia, the liberal priest who ministers to the Torvaianica trans community, acknowledged that "we weren't able to meet the pope" but noted they were seated "very, very close to the pope." He described the atmosphere as both "fraternal" and "joyful."
Despite sensing "some disappointment," attendee Marcella Di Marco, 52, remained optimistic. "But we still received a sense that the church is not going to close the door that it opened," she observed. "Pope Leo is different from Francis, but he knows we have hard lives and I believe his heart is open to us."
The event was intended to continue the late pontiff's high-profile outreach to marginalized LGBTQ+ Catholics. Many of the transgender women were Latin Americans from Torvaianica, just outside Rome, who had developed a relationship with the Vatican during Francis's papacy.
