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Cardinal Konrad Krajewski has responded to claims that transgender activists were intentionally excluded from Pope Leo XIV’s top table at the Vatican’s Jubilee Lunch for the Poor.
A group of 48 individuals who identify as “transgender women” attended the annual “Lunch for the Poor” at the Vatican on Sunday alongside Pope Leo XIV, with none being seated at the Pope’s main table.
In 2023 and 2024, two individuals identifying as “transgender women” were selected to dine at the head table. The arrangement this year prompted some secular newspapers to claim that the transgender activists were effectively snubbed by not being at the top table.
The gathering, held in the Paul VI Hall and which welcomed around 1,300 guests including migrants, homeless people and the disabled, is a tradition revived under the late Pope Francis as a symbol of outreach to the marginalised of society. This year’s arrangement appears to have stirred fresh questions about inclusion.
The lunch began with the Pope entering the hall as an orchestra struck up “O Sole Mio”. The Pope addressed the crowd and blessed the attendees. “Buon appetito,” he said before sitting down to a meal of lasagne and chicken cutlets
In a brief interview with the Washington Post, Cardinal Krajewski, the Vatican’s point-person for the event who oversaw its organisation, rejected any suggestion of an intentional snub toward the transgender activists.
He said that places at the top table “were given to poor parishioners who had attended an earlier Eucharist”, while the transgender-activists arrived later for the event and “sat elsewhere”.
He explained further that the spots for the Pope’s table this year had been handed out randomly to the poor parishioners.
“The Church is open to everyone,” he said. “It’s not about [the Pope] meaning to carry on this outreach. They [the activists] came because they’re an integral part of the Church, that is all.”
Transgender activist Alessia Nobile said she had managed to hand the Pope a letter on behalf of the “trans community” and that he “simply smiled”.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, a Polish prelate created cardinal by Pope Francis in 2018, serves as the Papal Almoner, one of the most hands-on and visible offices in the Roman Curia. His work is rooted in a long career of service, including years spent in the Vatican’s liturgical office, where he assisted John Paul II and Benedict XVI during papal ceremonies.
Pope Francis elevated him specifically to amplify the Church’s concrete outreach to the poor, entrusting him with a portfolio that places pastoral presence ahead of administration. As Papal Almoner, Cardinal Krajewski is responsible for the Holy See’s charitable initiatives, and it is for this reason that he oversees the annual Vatican “Lunch for the Poor”.
The office of the Papal Almoner is one of the oldest charitable institutions of the Holy See, with roots stretching back to the early Middle Ages. By the 13th century, the role was formally established as a permanent office within the papal household, entrusted with distributing alms to the poor of Rome and to pilgrims who came seeking help.
RELATED: Pope Leo to share Jubilee lunch with transgender activist
Photo: Cardinal Konrad Krajewski officiates the Rosary prayer session for Pope Francis, who was in hospital at the time, in St Peter's Square, Vatican, 2 March 2025 (Photo by Chris Furlong/Getty Images)
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