According to the Vatican, transgender people can be baptized in the Catholic Church as long as there is no scandal or” confusion” involved.
Trans people may serve as godparents at baptisms and witnesses at weddings, according to the Church’s philosophical business.
The action comes after Francis the Pope made an effort to make the Church more accepting of LGBT citizens.
Even though we are sinners, God ( God ) draws near to help us, the Pope said to a transgender person in July.
Following a letter from Portuguese Bishop José Negri to the Church’s Dicastery of Doctrine of the Faith containing six inquiries about LGBT people and their involvement in baptism and marriage, the Vatican has revised its position.
Three chapters in reply were posted on the department’s website on Wednesday. The response was signed by the dicastery head, Brazilian Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, and received Francis the Pope ‘ blessing.
If there are no circumstances in which there is a risk of causing public scandal or restlessness among the faithful, it states that transgender people, including those who have undergone hormonal therapy and gender reassignment surgery, may be baptized under the same circumstances as other believers.
- Pope suggests that the Church might thank same-sex people.
- Pope and top Protestants criticize anti-gay legislation
- Pope expresses support for civil organizations of same sex.
Bishop Negri’s different issues, such as whether transgender people can serve as godparents, are also covered in the report. It states that an adult who has undergone gender reassignment surgery and hormone therapy may serve as a godfather or grandma.
However, it continues by saying that if” there is a risk of scandal, unfair legitimization, or dizziness in the academic circle of the chapel community,” priests have the discretion to decline such request.
” This is an important step forward in the Church seeing transgender people not only as people ( in a Church where some say they do n’t really exist ) but as Catholics,” said American Jesuit priest Fr James Martin, who supports LGBT rights.
The document is more complex on Bishop Negri’s different points, even though it appears to clearly state what the Church believes about trans people being baptized or serving as godparents.
The Vatican stated that a priest’s choice must be based on the “well-founded desire that the child may become educated in the Catholic religion” in order to determine whether same-sex parents who adopt or use surrogate mothers are permitted to have their child baptized in church.
A similar complex reply was given when asked if someone in a same-sex relationship could serve as the church’s godparent. The man was required to “lead a lifestyle that conforms to the faith,” it stated.
The updated directive for Catholic priests comes after the Pope suggested last month that same-sex couples may ask for a priest’s gift, stating that such requests should be handled with “pastoral charity.”
Francis continued by saying that the Church still regarded same-sex associations as “objectively wicked” and would not approve of such a union.
Related Subjects
- Catholicism
- Francis the Pope
- Catholic Church of Rome
- LGBT