Post by iagosan on Nov 10, 2023 8:39:58 GMT
Vatican Doctrine Office: Transgender-Identifying People Can Be Baptized, Witness Marriages
The dicastery’s response is dated Oct. 31 and signed by DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Fernández and Pope Francis.
Hannah Brockhaus/CNA Vatican
November 8, 2023
The Vatican’s doctrine office has said an adult who identifies as transgender can receive the sacrament of baptism under the same conditions as any adult, as long as there is no risk of causing scandal or confusion to other Catholics.
The Vatican also said that children or adolescents experiencing transgender identity issues may also receive baptism “if well prepared and willing.”
The document answering these and other sacrament-based questions for those who identify as transgender and people in same-sex relationships was generated in response to questions posed to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) in July by Bishop Giuseppe (José) Negri of Santo Amaro in Brazil. The guidance comes amid ongoing discussions within the Catholic Church about pastoral care for the LGBTQ community in light of Francis’ focus on accompaniment and synodality.
The dicastery’s response is dated Oct. 31 and signed by DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Fernández and Pope Francis. It is available on the Vatican website in Italian.
The Vatican also responded to questions about whether transgender-identifying people or those in homosexual relationships can be godparents or witness a marriage, and whether children adopted or born through assisted reproduction to same-sex couples can be baptized.
To the last question, the DDF cited paragraph 868 of the Code of Canon law, and said “for the child to be baptized there must be a well-founded hope that he or she will be educated in the Catholic religion.”
The Vatican's Explanation
On the question of those who identify as transgender and their reception of the sacrament of baptism, the dicastery gave some notes for consideration, “especially when there is some doubt about the objective moral situation in which a person finds himself, or about his subjective disposition toward grace.”
It went on to explain that the Catholic Church teaches that baptism received without repentance for grave sins, while it gives an indelible sacramental character, does not bestow sanctifying grace.
The Vatican quoted the Catechism of the Catholic Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Augustine of Hippo to explain that once a person has the right disposition, that is, has repented of any grave sins, the sacramental character of baptism “is an immediate cause which disposes one to receive grace.”
“Thus we can understand why Pope Francis wanted to emphasize that baptism ‘is the door which allows Christ the Lord to dwell in our person and allows us to be immersed in his Mystery,’” the DDF said, quoting an April 11, 2018 general audience by Pope Francis.
“This concretely implies,” it went on, quoting Francis’ 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, “that ‘nor should the doors of the sacraments be closed for simply any reason. This is especially true of the sacrament which is itself ‘the door’: baptism. ... The Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.’”
The DDF concluded that even if there are doubts about a person’s objective moral situation or subjective disposition toward grace, “the faithfulness of God’s unconditional love, capable of generating an irrevocable covenant even with the sinner” should not be forgotten.
“In any case, the Church should always call [someone] to live out fully all the implications of the received baptism, which must always be understood and unfolded within the entire journey of Christian initiation,” it said.
Other Related Questions
The doctrinal office said a transgender-identifying person who has undergone hormonal treatment or sex-reassignment surgery can fulfill the role of godfather or godmother for a baptism “under certain conditions,” but added that such a role is not a right and should not be allowed if there is danger of causing scandal or confusion to the Church community.
It also said there was nothing in current Church law that prohibits people who identify as transgender or cohabiting homosexual people from acting as witnesses of a marriage.
In answer to a question about whether a cohabiting homosexual person can be a godparent, the document cited the Church’s Code of Canon Law, paragraph 874, to say a godparent can be anyone who possesses the aptitude and “who leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on.”
It stated that a homosexual person living, not a “simple cohabitation,” but a “stable and declared more uxorio" in the manner of a husband and wife “well recognized by the community,” is “a different case.”
Every case requires “pastoral prudence,” it went on to say, in order to safeguard the sacrament of baptism, and “it is necessary to consider the real value that the ecclesial community confers on the duties of godfather and godmother, the role they play in the community, and the consideration they show toward the teaching of the Church.”
The DDF also said it can be taken into account whether there are other people in the extended family who can guarantee the proper transmission of the Catholic faith to the baptized person without holding the role of godparent.
www.ncregister.com/cna/vatican-doctrine-office-transgender-identifying-people-can-be-baptized-witness-marriages
or
archive.li/wip/qS3di
Yet back in 2015 we had this:
Francis strongly criticizes gender theory, comparing it to nuclear arms
Vatican City — February 13, 2015
Pope Francis has strongly criticized modern theories that consider people's gender identities to exist along a spectrum, saying such theories do not "recognize the order of creation."
Speaking of gender theory in an interview in a new book released in Italy, the pope even compares such theories to genetic manipulation and nuclear weapons.
Gender theory is a broad term for an academic school of thought that considers how people learn to identify themselves sexually and how they may become typed into certain roles based on societal expectations.
Asked in the book about how important it is for Christians to recover a sense of safeguarding of creation and sustainable growth, the pope first speaks of the duty of all people to respect and care for the environment.
But he then says that every historical period has "Herods" that "destroy, that plot designs of death, that disfigure the face of man and woman, destroying creation."
"Let's think of the nuclear arms, of the possibility to annihilate in a few instants a very high number of human beings," he continues. "Let's think also of genetic manipulation, of the manipulation of life, or of the gender theory, that does not recognize the order of creation."
"With this attitude, man commits a new sin, that against God the Creator," the pope says. "The true custody of creation does not have anything to do with the ideologies that consider man like an accident, like a problem to eliminate."
"God has placed man and woman and the summit of creation and has entrusted them with the earth," Francis says. "The design of the Creator is written in nature."
Francis makes his remarks in the Italian book Pope Francis: This Economy Kills, which recounts and analyzes the discourses, documents and interventions of the pope on the themes of poverty, immigration, social justice, and safeguarding of creation.
Written by veteran Italian journalists Andrea Tornielli and Giacomo Galeazzi, the book, released last month, concludes with an interview given by Francis to the authors in October.
While the Italian daily La Stampa released the major part of that interview online in January, several portions of the interview are printed only in the book.
Francis' remarks on gender theory in the book follow similar remarks he made in a press conference on the papal plane in January in which he criticized what he called "ideological colonization" of less developed countries by those with more resources.
Recounting the story of a public education minister he knew who was offered money to construct new schools for the poor, Francis said to receive the money, the minister had to agree to use a course book with students that taught gender theory.
"This is the ideological colonization," the pope said. "It colonizes the people with an idea that changes, or wants to change, a mentality or a structure."
"It is not new, this," he continued. "The same was done by the dictators of the last century. They came with their own doctrine -- think of the Balilla [youth groups of Fascist Italy], think of the Hitler Youth."
Francis' reference to creation being inscribed with the designs of God seems to be a reference to the Catholic theological notion of natural law, an idea that nature itself carries a moral message that can be deciphered using the human faculty of reason.
The portion of the interview in the new book that contains Francis' remarks on gender theory also finds the pope touching on what he calls the need for all people, not just Christians, to protect creation.
"Creation is a gift that God has given to man to keep custody over it, to cultivate it, to use if for sustenance and to give it to future generations," the pope says.
"The vocation to guard is human before Christian, it regards all: It is the custody of creation -- its beauty -- it is to have respect for all the creatures of God and for the environment in which we live," Francis continues.
"If we fail in this responsibility, if we do not take care of our brothers and of all creation, destruction advances," he says.
Another portion of the interview that was not released online finds the pope answering a question about his repeated remarks that the global market system "kills."
Speaking of his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium ("The Joy of the Gospel"), Francis says in that exhortation that "I did not say anything that was not contained in the teachings of the social doctrine of the Church."
The pope also says he did not speak "from a technical point of view" but "searched to describe what is happening."
"The only specific citation was for the 'trickle down' theories, according to which every economic growth, favored by the free market, succeeds in producing in itself a better social equity and inclusion in the world," the pope states.
"That was the promise that when the glass might have been full, it would be transferred and the poor might have benefited from it," he continues. "It happens instead that when it's filled, the glass magically grows, and like this nothing ever falls out for the poor."
"I repeat, I did not speak technically, but according to the social doctrine of the Church," the pope says. "This does not mean to be Marxist. Maybe the one who has made this comment does not know the social doctrine of the Church and, at bottom, does not even know Marxism well."
[Joshua J. McElwee is NCR Vatican correspondent.
www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-strongly-criticizes-gender-theory-comparing-it-nuclear-arms
or
archive.li/n1EoX
(Incidentally, the second article above is rather difficult to locate on the National Catholic Reporter site now, as it seems to have been removed from its original web address (as linked to by various news agencies at the time of the report in 2015) and replaced at a slightly different web address on the site)
Please see the links contained in the articles below:
The Daily Beast.2015
www.thedailybeast.com/popes-shocking-hitler-youth-comparison?
This from BuzzFeed.News of 2015:
www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lesterfeder/pope-compares-transgender-people-to-nuclear-weapons
and this from CBS 2015
www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/pope-francis-compares-transgender-people-to-nuclear-weapons-in-new-book/
www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-strongly-criticizes-gender-theory-comparing-nuclear-arms
This poses the question that all Catholics must ask themselves now:
“What exactly are we dealing with here?”
The dicastery’s response is dated Oct. 31 and signed by DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Fernández and Pope Francis.
Hannah Brockhaus/CNA Vatican
November 8, 2023
The Vatican’s doctrine office has said an adult who identifies as transgender can receive the sacrament of baptism under the same conditions as any adult, as long as there is no risk of causing scandal or confusion to other Catholics.
The Vatican also said that children or adolescents experiencing transgender identity issues may also receive baptism “if well prepared and willing.”
The document answering these and other sacrament-based questions for those who identify as transgender and people in same-sex relationships was generated in response to questions posed to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) in July by Bishop Giuseppe (José) Negri of Santo Amaro in Brazil. The guidance comes amid ongoing discussions within the Catholic Church about pastoral care for the LGBTQ community in light of Francis’ focus on accompaniment and synodality.
The dicastery’s response is dated Oct. 31 and signed by DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Fernández and Pope Francis. It is available on the Vatican website in Italian.
The Vatican also responded to questions about whether transgender-identifying people or those in homosexual relationships can be godparents or witness a marriage, and whether children adopted or born through assisted reproduction to same-sex couples can be baptized.
To the last question, the DDF cited paragraph 868 of the Code of Canon law, and said “for the child to be baptized there must be a well-founded hope that he or she will be educated in the Catholic religion.”
The Vatican's Explanation
On the question of those who identify as transgender and their reception of the sacrament of baptism, the dicastery gave some notes for consideration, “especially when there is some doubt about the objective moral situation in which a person finds himself, or about his subjective disposition toward grace.”
It went on to explain that the Catholic Church teaches that baptism received without repentance for grave sins, while it gives an indelible sacramental character, does not bestow sanctifying grace.
The Vatican quoted the Catechism of the Catholic Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Augustine of Hippo to explain that once a person has the right disposition, that is, has repented of any grave sins, the sacramental character of baptism “is an immediate cause which disposes one to receive grace.”
“Thus we can understand why Pope Francis wanted to emphasize that baptism ‘is the door which allows Christ the Lord to dwell in our person and allows us to be immersed in his Mystery,’” the DDF said, quoting an April 11, 2018 general audience by Pope Francis.
“This concretely implies,” it went on, quoting Francis’ 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, “that ‘nor should the doors of the sacraments be closed for simply any reason. This is especially true of the sacrament which is itself ‘the door’: baptism. ... The Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.’”
The DDF concluded that even if there are doubts about a person’s objective moral situation or subjective disposition toward grace, “the faithfulness of God’s unconditional love, capable of generating an irrevocable covenant even with the sinner” should not be forgotten.
“In any case, the Church should always call [someone] to live out fully all the implications of the received baptism, which must always be understood and unfolded within the entire journey of Christian initiation,” it said.
Other Related Questions
The doctrinal office said a transgender-identifying person who has undergone hormonal treatment or sex-reassignment surgery can fulfill the role of godfather or godmother for a baptism “under certain conditions,” but added that such a role is not a right and should not be allowed if there is danger of causing scandal or confusion to the Church community.
It also said there was nothing in current Church law that prohibits people who identify as transgender or cohabiting homosexual people from acting as witnesses of a marriage.
In answer to a question about whether a cohabiting homosexual person can be a godparent, the document cited the Church’s Code of Canon Law, paragraph 874, to say a godparent can be anyone who possesses the aptitude and “who leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on.”
It stated that a homosexual person living, not a “simple cohabitation,” but a “stable and declared more uxorio" in the manner of a husband and wife “well recognized by the community,” is “a different case.”
Every case requires “pastoral prudence,” it went on to say, in order to safeguard the sacrament of baptism, and “it is necessary to consider the real value that the ecclesial community confers on the duties of godfather and godmother, the role they play in the community, and the consideration they show toward the teaching of the Church.”
The DDF also said it can be taken into account whether there are other people in the extended family who can guarantee the proper transmission of the Catholic faith to the baptized person without holding the role of godparent.
www.ncregister.com/cna/vatican-doctrine-office-transgender-identifying-people-can-be-baptized-witness-marriages
or
archive.li/wip/qS3di
Yet back in 2015 we had this:
Francis strongly criticizes gender theory, comparing it to nuclear arms
Vatican City — February 13, 2015
Pope Francis has strongly criticized modern theories that consider people's gender identities to exist along a spectrum, saying such theories do not "recognize the order of creation."
Speaking of gender theory in an interview in a new book released in Italy, the pope even compares such theories to genetic manipulation and nuclear weapons.
Gender theory is a broad term for an academic school of thought that considers how people learn to identify themselves sexually and how they may become typed into certain roles based on societal expectations.
Asked in the book about how important it is for Christians to recover a sense of safeguarding of creation and sustainable growth, the pope first speaks of the duty of all people to respect and care for the environment.
But he then says that every historical period has "Herods" that "destroy, that plot designs of death, that disfigure the face of man and woman, destroying creation."
"Let's think of the nuclear arms, of the possibility to annihilate in a few instants a very high number of human beings," he continues. "Let's think also of genetic manipulation, of the manipulation of life, or of the gender theory, that does not recognize the order of creation."
"With this attitude, man commits a new sin, that against God the Creator," the pope says. "The true custody of creation does not have anything to do with the ideologies that consider man like an accident, like a problem to eliminate."
"God has placed man and woman and the summit of creation and has entrusted them with the earth," Francis says. "The design of the Creator is written in nature."
Francis makes his remarks in the Italian book Pope Francis: This Economy Kills, which recounts and analyzes the discourses, documents and interventions of the pope on the themes of poverty, immigration, social justice, and safeguarding of creation.
Written by veteran Italian journalists Andrea Tornielli and Giacomo Galeazzi, the book, released last month, concludes with an interview given by Francis to the authors in October.
While the Italian daily La Stampa released the major part of that interview online in January, several portions of the interview are printed only in the book.
Francis' remarks on gender theory in the book follow similar remarks he made in a press conference on the papal plane in January in which he criticized what he called "ideological colonization" of less developed countries by those with more resources.
Recounting the story of a public education minister he knew who was offered money to construct new schools for the poor, Francis said to receive the money, the minister had to agree to use a course book with students that taught gender theory.
"This is the ideological colonization," the pope said. "It colonizes the people with an idea that changes, or wants to change, a mentality or a structure."
"It is not new, this," he continued. "The same was done by the dictators of the last century. They came with their own doctrine -- think of the Balilla [youth groups of Fascist Italy], think of the Hitler Youth."
Francis' reference to creation being inscribed with the designs of God seems to be a reference to the Catholic theological notion of natural law, an idea that nature itself carries a moral message that can be deciphered using the human faculty of reason.
The portion of the interview in the new book that contains Francis' remarks on gender theory also finds the pope touching on what he calls the need for all people, not just Christians, to protect creation.
"Creation is a gift that God has given to man to keep custody over it, to cultivate it, to use if for sustenance and to give it to future generations," the pope says.
"The vocation to guard is human before Christian, it regards all: It is the custody of creation -- its beauty -- it is to have respect for all the creatures of God and for the environment in which we live," Francis continues.
"If we fail in this responsibility, if we do not take care of our brothers and of all creation, destruction advances," he says.
Another portion of the interview that was not released online finds the pope answering a question about his repeated remarks that the global market system "kills."
Speaking of his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium ("The Joy of the Gospel"), Francis says in that exhortation that "I did not say anything that was not contained in the teachings of the social doctrine of the Church."
The pope also says he did not speak "from a technical point of view" but "searched to describe what is happening."
"The only specific citation was for the 'trickle down' theories, according to which every economic growth, favored by the free market, succeeds in producing in itself a better social equity and inclusion in the world," the pope states.
"That was the promise that when the glass might have been full, it would be transferred and the poor might have benefited from it," he continues. "It happens instead that when it's filled, the glass magically grows, and like this nothing ever falls out for the poor."
"I repeat, I did not speak technically, but according to the social doctrine of the Church," the pope says. "This does not mean to be Marxist. Maybe the one who has made this comment does not know the social doctrine of the Church and, at bottom, does not even know Marxism well."
[Joshua J. McElwee is NCR Vatican correspondent.
www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-strongly-criticizes-gender-theory-comparing-it-nuclear-arms
or
archive.li/n1EoX
(Incidentally, the second article above is rather difficult to locate on the National Catholic Reporter site now, as it seems to have been removed from its original web address (as linked to by various news agencies at the time of the report in 2015) and replaced at a slightly different web address on the site)
Please see the links contained in the articles below:
The Daily Beast.2015
www.thedailybeast.com/popes-shocking-hitler-youth-comparison?
This from BuzzFeed.News of 2015:
www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lesterfeder/pope-compares-transgender-people-to-nuclear-weapons
and this from CBS 2015
www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/pope-francis-compares-transgender-people-to-nuclear-weapons-in-new-book/
www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-strongly-criticizes-gender-theory-comparing-nuclear-arms
This poses the question that all Catholics must ask themselves now:
“What exactly are we dealing with here?”
