While on Saturday, August 5, a million and a half people gathered in Tejo Park in Lisbon for the vigil with Pope Francis, five people, including four young Portuguese men, were victims of intimidation. They were targeted because of the LGBT flag they were displaying.
Shocked, the four Portuguese youths filed a complaint on Sunday 6 August. “They were subjected to many insults, stones were thrown at them, they were pushed, and even the LGBT flag they were carrying was stolen.”is shown in Press release published Thursday, August 10 by Catholic LGBT associations.
‘Nobody helped them’
In the crowd, no one helped them.confirms Ana Carvalho, member, like about thirty other people, of the Rainbow Center, a place where LGBT people organized various events during WYD in Lisbon. I wasn’t with them at the time, but since I was the leader of the group, they called me. I called the police, who identified the attackers, and the LGBT pilgrims were able to go to a safe place.”She continues.
If pilgrims around the world are used to displaying their country’s flag, Anna Carvalho suspected that carrying the LGBT rainbow flag at this gathering might involve “Risk”. But for her, A.A ” excitement ” : These flags are similar to the flags of other groups, to show that we are happy to be free. »
“We mistakenly believed that the papal vigil was a safe place, where there is a place for everyone, every person, every individual”, regrets the statement made by the Catholic LGBT Associations. Words that directly refer to those spoken by Pope Francis during the welcoming ceremony on Thursday, August 3. “There is room for everyone in the church!”I knocked.
This insistence was particularly characteristic of LGBT Catholics, while other events were disrupted during WYD Day. In fact, dozens of people stormed a mass of the Rainbow Center, in the parish church of Our Lady of the Incarnation in Amexiueira, on the outskirts of Lisbon.
“When mass started and we sang, they started praying the rosary in Latin, with their crosses held up. We couldn’t go on because they were shouting.”recalls Julián Muñoz Pérez, one of the leaders of Crismhom, an association of LGBT Catholics in Madrid.
Then the priest called the police, and the rioters left without resistance, continuing to pray. Their work had a certain resonance in the Portuguese press as many editorialists, concerned about the Church’s “openness” to these subjects, lamented the incident.
“isolated” verbs
However, Julián Muñoz Pérez wishes to avoid confusion with all the young pilgrims who are in great numbers in Lisbon. ” There were these single acts, by a few people that made a huge splashhe points to. But in general we were well received and were able to talk to many people who were delighted to discover the existence of our associations ».
A sentiment shared by Anna Carvalho: “These actions shouldn’t happen, but it shouldn’t be the first thing we remember from WYD in terms of the community. In Lisbon, it was the first time in particular that we had public events, and we felt safe most of the time. This is a huge step forward.” For gay Catholics! ». However, the associations hope for an official response from the Vatican so that these actions will not be repeated.
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