Trans Women Welcome Pope’s Message of Inclusivity

Carla Segovia, a transgender woman from Argentina, walks out of the Beata Vergine Immacolata parish church in Torvaianica, Italy, Nov. 16, 2023. Priest Andrea Conocchia, third from left, speaks with transgender women, from left, Andrea Paola Torres Lopez, Claudia Vittoria Salas and Carla Segovia as they sit in the Beata Vergine Immacolata parish church in Torvaianica, Italy, Nov. 16, 2023. Lusiana, a transgender woman from Argentina, stands in front of the Beata Vergine Immacolata parish church in Torvaianica, Italy, Nov. 16, 2023.

Pope Francis' recent gesture of welcome for transgender Catholics has resonated strongly in a working class, seaside town south of Rome, where a community of trans women has found help and hope through a remarkable relationship with the pontiff forged during the darkest times of the pandemic.