11/19/2025
I believe we can all see that our Pope strives to see the world as our Heavenly Father does—with compassion, understanding, and love for all.
Pope Leo XIV is set to share a meal with Alessia Nobile and a group of other Trans Catholic activists this Sunday, as part of a special Vatican lunch marking the Church’s Jubilee of the Poor, according to reporting from Catholic journalist Christopher Hale.
The gathering coincides with the World Day of the Poor and follows a Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, after which people experiencing homelessness, vulnerability, or social marginalisation are invited to dine alongside the Pope.
Nobile, 46, is one of five Trans women who received an invitation. She had formally requested an audience with the new pontiff — a 69-year-old Chicago-born cleric with dual American and Peruvian citizenship, elected on 8 May after a two-day conclave triggered by the death of 88-year-old Pope Francis.
Her hope, she said, is to ensure that the openness and pastoral warmth fostered under Francis does not evaporate with the transition of leadership. “I ask Leo not to go backwards on rights,” she told Italian media.
Nobile’s relationship with the Church has been marked by pain. As a teenager, she was subjected to clandestine “exorcisms” by a religion teacher, and her family were pressured to consider electroshock therapy. Despite this trauma, she remained devout — eventually chronicling her story in her memoir La bambina invisibile.
Her life shifted after meeting Pope Francis in 2022. He encouraged her not only to stay close to her faith, but to speak openly about her experience “so prejudice does not grow,” reminding her that “in the eyes of God, we are all His children.” Nobile now hopes Pope Leo XIV will honour that legacy.
