The Vatican has issued new advice on how transgender people should be treated in the Catholic church saying they can be baptised, serve as witnesses to weddings and be declared godparents.
The new advice is the latest is a series of comments and directions issued by Pope Francis that have softened the church’s stance on homosexuality and gender identity.
Following a letter from Brazilian Bishop José Negri to the Church’s Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, posing six questions related to the involvement of LGBT individuals in baptism and matrimony, the department issued a response on its website last week.
The reply, endorsed Argentine Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, and approved by Pope Francis, asserts that transgender individuals, including those who have undergone hormonal treatment and gender reassignment surgery, are eligible for baptism under the same conditions as other believers.
The advice from The Vatican says clergy should be cautious; “if there are no situations in which there is a risk of generating public scandal or disorientation among the faithful”.
OIP Staff
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