Chicago-born Pope Leo snubs group of trans women during holy dinner at the Vatican

Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV appeared to give the cold shoulder to a group of 48 transgender women who were excluded from the head table at the Vatican’s annual ‘lunch for the poor’ at the Vatican on Sunday.

Sitting away from the pope marked a break from the access they had enjoyed in recent years under Pope Francis, a moment that many attendees interpreted as an unmistakable snub.

The women, who were twice welcomed at Francis’ own table in both 2023 and 2024, were instead seated at separate tables in the Paul VI Hall.

This saw them lose the landmark that had become a symbol of the late pope’s high-profile support for transgender Catholics.

Italian trans writer Alessia Nobile said she only managed to deliver a letter to the new pope before he ‘smiled’ and moved on. The others never got close enough to talk to him.

‘You will interfere, [sat] close [us]That’s a good sign, isn’t it?’ said Nobile, who hopes Pope Leo’s warmth toward his group will match Francis’.

Nobile said he managed to give the new pope a letter “on behalf of the trans community” but received only a smile in return.

Vatican organizers deny that any deliberate understatement occurred, claiming there was no conspiracy and the seating arrangement was random.

Pope Leo XIV attended lunch with the poor to mark the Jubilee of the Poor and the 9th World Day of the Poor at the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican on Sunday

Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square ahead of the Vatican’s celebration of the Jubilee of the Poor in Vatican City on Sunday. Mass and Lunch with the Pope, Service of Charity in the Paul VI Hall organized by the Dicastery

More than 1,300 immigrants, homeless visitors, disabled guests and low-income families attended the widely watched meeting in the Vatican’s sprawling Paul VI Hall.

The luncheon was a continuation of the late pope’s high-profile support for marginalized LGBTQ+ Catholics.

Trans women, many of whom are Latin Americans from Torvaianica, just outside Rome, had in previous years been personally welcomed by Francis at papal conclaves and seated at the head table, only to find themselves clustered at separate tables.

He greeted the guests who had arrived for ‘this luncheon, so strongly supported by our beloved Pope Francis,’ according to the event program, and then settled down to a menu of lasagna and chicken cutlets and gave his blessing.

Only when trans women arrived did they find their access to the head table had disappeared without explanation.

‘We didn’t get to meet the pope,’ said the Rev. Andrea Conocchia, a liberal priest who is a preacher for the Torvaianica transgender community, ‘but still ‘they seated us at tables very, very close to the pope.’

Conocchia insisted the atmosphere was ‘going well’ and described it as both ‘brotherly’ and ‘joyous’.

In an interview with Washington Post, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Vatican’s longtime organizer of the Pope’s charity events, insisted there was no intention of making light of it.

Priest Andrea Conocchia on Torvaianica beach helped local trans women find help from the Vatican

The women found help and hope through their remarkable relationships with the late Pope Francis and local pastor Andrea Conocchia.

Vatican organizers say the seating arrangement was random and deny that any deliberate underestimation occurred

More than 1,300 immigrants, homeless visitors, disabled guests and low-income families attended the widely watched meeting in the Vatican’s sprawling Paul VI Hall

Women were hosted twice at the late Pope Francis’ own table in previous years.

He said that the seats at the head table were distributed ‘randomly’ to members of the congregation who attended the previous service and that trans women ‘arrived late’.

He warned that trying to make the seating plan symbolic would be overkill.

‘The church is open to everyone,’ Krajewski said. ‘This is not about [Leo] This means continuing to help. ‘They came because they are an integral part of the church, that’s all.’

Marcella Di Marco, 52, said that although she felt ‘a little disappointed’, she believed that the door Francis opened was not slammed shut.

‘But we still had the feeling that the church would not close the door it opened,’ he said. ‘Pope Leo is different from Francis, but he knows that we live difficult lives and I believe his heart is open to us.’

Long seen as more cautious and institutionally minded than the charismatic Francis, Pope Leo has since his election been supportive of Francis’ theological framework but has been lighter on LGBTQ+ issues.

At a forum held at the Vatican in 2012, Leo openly criticized popular culture’s depictions of homosexuality.

In a recent book based on interviews with him, he described the LGBTQ+ debate as ‘hugely polarizing within the church’ and noted that for many Catholics outside the West, ‘this is not a primary issue in terms of how we should deal with each other.’

Priest Andrea Conocchia of Torvaianica with three transgender women he helps, from left to right Andrea Paola Torres Lopez, also known as Consuelo, Carla Segovia and Claudia Vittoria Salas

The woman had sat at Pope Francis’ table in previous years. Pictured, Priest Andrea Conocchia, right, with a group of transgender women he accompanied in 2023

The luncheon was a continuation of the late pope’s high-profile support for marginalized LGBTQ+ Catholics.

Pope Leo XVI attended a special lunch with the poor at the Vatican’s Vatican City on Sunday

Pope Leo XIV is seen arriving for lunch in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Poor

Pope Leo XIV is seen attending lunch with the poor in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican to mark the Jubilee of the Poor and the 9th World Day of the Poor

Still, he echoed Francis on a crucial point: LGBTQ+ Catholics are a ‘son or daughter of God’ and are therefore welcome.

He also quietly approved some actions that were once unthinkable for a pope.

In September, the Vatican authorized a private Mass to be held privately for more than 1,450 pilgrims attending a historic LGBTQ+ gathering ahead of the 2025 anniversary, but chose not to announce it publicly.

What he didn’t do was maintain Francis’ deeply personal relationship with transgender visitors.

Francis has held dozens of papal audiences with transgender women, often bringing them to the front row, greeting them by name and offering prayers that resonated far beyond Rome.

The Catholic Church still defines homosexuality as ‘inherently disordered’.

Francis has also opposed same-sex marriage within the Church, denouncing “gender theory” as akin to “nuclear weapons,” but he has also supported civil unions, approved short blessings for same-sex couples, and announced that transgender people can serve as godparents and receive baptism.