Pope Leo XIV set to dine with trans activists during Jubilee for the Poor

Alessia Nobile (left) is one of the trans activists who dines with the Pope on Sunday (Instagram/Getty)

Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to dine with Alessia Nobile and other trans Catholic activists this Sunday at a special luncheon at the Vatican commemorating the church’s Jubilee of the Poor. Catholic journalist Christopher Hale reported.

This annual event coincides with World Day of the Poor and includes Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, followed by a communal meal for the homeless, vulnerable and marginalized.

During Transgender Awareness Week and as part of Jubilee, Pope Leo will meet with a group of transgender women, including trans activist Alecia Nobile, a close friend of Pope Francis, at a special invited luncheon this Sunday.

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— Pope Clave (@ClubConcrave) November 14, 2025

Nobile, 46, was one of five transgender women invited to formally request an audience with the new pope, who was born in Chicago and has dual American and Peruvian citizenship. The 69-year-old was elected on Thursday, May 8, after a two-day papal synod following the death of 88-year-old Pope Francis.

Her hope is to ensure that the spirit of inclusiveness fostered under Pope Francis continues after his death. “I ask Leo not to back down on rights,” she told Italian media.

In an interview, Nobile explained how his journey in the church has been marked by rejection. As a teenager, she endured secret “exorcism” rituals by her school’s religion teacher and pressure from her family to consider electroshock therapy. Despite this trauma, she remained a Catholic and later wrote about her experiences in her memoirs. invisible bambina.

“In God’s eyes, we are all God’s children.”

She also explained how her life has changed under Pope Francis. After they first met in 2022, Francisco became a mentor and friend, encouraging them to tell their stories “to avoid spreading prejudice” and reminding them that “in God’s eyes, we are all children of God.”

She said Nobile guaranteed a front row seat at the pope’s audience and wrote a handwritten letter affirming God’s unconditional love, an act Nobile described as “unrepeatable.”

Pope Francis is known for his support of LGBTQ+ people, often meeting privately with the trans community, supporting local dioceses that welcome them, and emphasizing pastoral intimacy over judgment.

As Pope Leo XIV begins his pontificate, Nobile hopes to maintain that trajectory. Her invitation to the Jubilee luncheon signals that the new pope intends to stand with those on the margins of society. However, his past statements regarding the LGBTQ+ community have been controversial.

after his election new york times Pope Leo criticized the entertainment media in 2012, saying they were sympathetic to “beliefs and practices contrary to the Gospel,” including “the homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families consisting of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”

The Pope has previously said that the family is “founded on a stable union between a man and a woman,” adding: “From the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, from the citizen to the migrant, no one is exempt from efforts to ensure that the dignity of all people, especially the most frail and vulnerable, is respected.”

And in September, the Pope said the LGBTQ+ community is “not bad people” while also criticizing same-sex blessings. However, for Nobile, these mixed messages are nothing to worry about.

She said she hopes that by attending on Sunday, she can ensure that the church remains a home for everyone, “no one excluded.”