Leftists outraged after Italian bishop’s secretary posts ‘pride’ swastika flag

(LifeSiteNews) — Gilbert Turcotti, the personal secretary of Bishop Franco Lovignana of Aosta, Italy, marked a local LGBT “pride” parade on Saturday by posting an image turning a rainbow “pride” flag into a swastika on his personal WhatsApp page, enraging leftists.

Turcotti’s since-deleted September 26 post, coinciding with the Aosta Pride Parade, shows four “pride ” flags meeting to form a swastika, with the caption “Questione di prospettiva…” (“A matter of perspective”), quickly leading to outrage from leftists, per Italian media. After backlash from LGBT activists, Bishop Lovignana issued a statement distancing the diocese from the post, saying that official posts are only found on the diocese’s official channels, but declining to comment on the post’s content, further outraging the leftists.

Questa è l’immagine pubblicata sullo stato WhatsApp da Gilbert Turcotti, segretario del Vescovo di Aosta, nel giorno dell’Aosta Pride. Un insulto gravissimo alla memoria delle persone perseguitate e uccise dal nazismo. Ma per il vescovo è solo un “parere personale”. pic.twitter.com/XIJBoqN2qK

— Alekos Prete (@AlekosPrete) September 29, 2026

“Transforming the Pride flag into a swastika is an insult to the memory of [so-called] gay and transgender people who were persecuted, deported, and killed by the Nazis,” Alice Sartore, a spokesperson for the Aosta Pride Committee, said in response to Turcotti’s post.

In his response, Bishop Lovignana stressed that his secretary’s WhatsApp post reflected his personal opinion, while the diocese’s official positions on any topic are available through its official channels.

“The diocese’s position on any event, situation, or topic is always and exclusively expressed through official channels,” the bishop said, adding that “any other position taken, by whomever expressed, constitutes the personal opinion of the person expressing it.”

READ: LGBT activists try to force ‘pride’ parade on Romanian city

The Aosta Pride organizers responded by saying the bishop’s statement was “not the distancing we had asked for.”

The LGBT movement has become known for intense opposition to those who oppose against its agenda, as demonstrated by violence committed by homosexual, gender-confused, or pro-LGBT individuals and anti-Christian policies pushed by LGBT supporters.

However, in recent years, several Italian bishops have shown at least tacit support for the LGBT agenda.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, earlier this month, about 10 bishops and nearly 200 pastoral workers gathered at the General Curia of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in Rome for Italy’s first national pro-LGBT conference entitled “Good Practices in Pastoral Ministry with Homosexual and Transgender People,” dedicated to so-called “pastoral ministry with homosexual and transgender people.” The meeting presented initiatives already operating in several Italian dioceses and examined the development of national guidelines for “LGBT pastoral ministry.”