In the Roman parish of Torvaianica, transgender women pray for Francesco's healing

Article by Giovanna dell'Orto Pubblycsto on the Associated Press website (United States) on March 2, 2025. Freely translated by the volunteers of the Gionata project

Moira Camila Garnica and a group of migrant transgender women meet in their parish (in Torvaianica, on the sea of ​​Rome) to pray for Pope Francis, while the pontiff continues his battle against pneumonia in a hospital in Rome, about an hour away from this town on the sea.

Many of them have grown up in the Catholic faith in Argentina, like Francesco, and in their prayers they express gratitude for its opening - some have had the opportunity to meet him in person - and hope that the door that has opened to a double -marked community will not be closed in the future.

"The greatest fear is that, if one day he is no longer driving the Church, things can go back," says Garnica, 47 years old. "We hope that the Church continues with this empathy, that it remains open to everyone and continues to help, because sometimes a person takes a big step forward and then others take three back".

Garnica and other Latin American women, mostly workers of sex who have lived in Italy for decades, found themselves at the end of February for the evening mass in the church of the Blessed Immaculate Virgin. During the Lockdown for Covid-19, this place had been a refuge for them, offering food, medicines and essential economic support, in a period in which, without being able to work, they had found themselves isolated and without resources.

The parish priest, Don Andrea Conocchia, had invited them to write letters to Pope Francis to tell their difficulties. The apostolic alms not only provided economic help, but also organized the vaccination of different from them in the Vatican. A few years later, some were even invited to participate in a lunch for the poor with the Pope.

“During the Covid period it was essential that Pope Francis entered our reality, that he saw who we are and began to treat us as human beings. I think that was the moment when faith, Christianity, was able to really embrace us, "says Carla Segovia.

Segovia, 48 years old, of Bolivian indigenous origin, left Argentina more than twenty years ago during the economic crisis. He started working as a prostitute to pay for transition interventions and describes the violence and discrimination suffered as a tough test "of your ability to survive".

Now that Francesco is sick, he says he wants to "transmit our strength, the same that he gave us in the difficult moments of pandemic. We want to give him that necessary energy, because in life we ​​must fight. "

The question of gender transition is controversial in many countries, including the United States, where the Catholic bishops reject it, while the theme of immigration shakes the political debate on both the banks of the Atlantic. But Francesco made an inclusion one of the characteristics of his guide, and the Vatican said that, in certain circumstances, transgender people can receive baptism and to be the godparents and godmothers.

Segovia and other women of the group grew in the church, but at some point in their life they felt excluded because of their identity and their work. During the Lockdown, however, the food distribution center of the parish of Torvaianica represented an open door for them.

"We Latin American we are very Catholic, but being trans means that many doors close, people move away from us and we too move away," says Garnica. "But it was a rumor that this Church would welcome you and help you, and so I came to ask for help, because I felt alone."

Minerva, 54 years old, originally from Peru, also lived a similar experience. With the voice broken by emotion, he tells how the support of the parish has changed his life.

“We had no job, we had no money to buy food. A friend said to me: 'Go to the parish and ask for Father Andrea'. I went, I knocked, and he welcomed me with a warmth that I had never tried before. From that moment he never stopped helping us, "says Minerva. “He opened many doors for us. At the beginning, people did not notice us here too. Now, when they see us, they greet us. "

For Don Conocchia, welcoming this group of women is in perfect harmony with the vision of a church open to the most marginalized that Francesco has promoted, and with his famous "Who am I to judge?" on LGBTQ+themes.

"We put the poor back in the center, we put back the people in the center, and this is the Gospel," explains the priest. "I am interested in the person, his life and his story ... a person is never just what he does."

In an ironic tone, he underlines that the most inclusive attitude of the Vatican can help eliminate religious prejudices, since some of the customers of these women could be the same people who attend mass.

For these women, often rejected by their families, it is a moment of grace that arrives straight to the heart.

"A trans girl would never have imagined in her life of being welcomed by the Pope, of being received and helped," says Garnica. "Already here they treat us badly for the mere fact of being Latin American, let alone in Latin America and being trans ... but thanks to Father Andrea, people have understood that we too have a heart, we too can make our contribution, we also need the Church".

Minerva, who as a young man in Peru was a catechist for his first communion before being removed from the parish because of his identity, now hopes to be able to enter the local choir. In the sacristy of Torvaianica, under an image of Pope Francis, he tries to sing a Spanish version of "Amazing Grace", dedicating it to Mary.

"They are not just part of the Church, I am the Church, because each of us is the Church," he says with conviction.

Original text: Transgender Women Near Rome Pray for Pope Francis, celebrated His Outreach