A group of transgender sex workers in
Italy struggling to survive amid the coronavirus pandemic has found
support in the Vatican.
According to Italian LGBT outlet
Gay.it,
the group last month approached their local parish priest for
assistance with food. The parish told them they were unable to help
due to a lack of resources stemming from the pandemic. But the priest
sent their request to Cardinal Konrad Krajewski at the Vatican.
Krajewski, who oversees the church's charities, approved the request
and sent the parish an undisclosed amount of money for the
transgender sex workers.
Speaking with Reuters, Krajewski said
that he didn't understand the attention the story had generated.
“This is ordinary work for the
church, it's normal,” he
said. “This is how the church is a field hospital.”
Gay.it reported that the donation was
shared among roughly 20 transgender sex workers, most of whom are
from Latin American. The women thanked Pope Francis in audio
messages.
In a WhatsApp message, Tiziana
Fisichella, coordinator of Milan Pride, told the
Washington
Blade that Francis “looked beyond social stigma and took
care of people forgotten by society.”
Francis has repeatedly criticized
gender identity and denounced technologies that allow people to
transition.
(Related: In
biography, ex-pope Benedict XVI associates gay marriage with the
Antichrist.)