Metropolis Desk-
In response to inquiries from a bishop, the Vatican’s doctrinal office stated on Wednesday that transgender persons are permitted to witness religious weddings, serve as godparents at Roman Catholic baptisms, and undergo baptism themselves.
In answer to a query about whether a same-sex couple might have a Church baptism for an adopted kid or one produced through a surrogate mother, the department—known as the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith—was evasive.
In July, the doctrinal office received six queries from Bishop Jose Negri of Santo Amaro, Brazil, concerning the involvement of LGBT individuals in the sacraments of baptism and matrimony.
The head of the department, the Argentine Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández signed the three pages of questions and answers, which Pope Francis authorized on October 31. They were published on Wednesday using the Italian term for “transsexuals” on the department’s website.
The 86-year-old Francis has worked to change church doctrine so that it is more accepting of the LGBT population without compromising its core beliefs. One such teaching is that while same-sex attraction is not sinful, same-sex activities are.
When asked if transgender persons might be baptized, the doctrinal office stated that they could—as long as there was “no risk of causing a public scandal or disorientation among the faithful” and certain other requirements were met.
It said that, at the local priest’s discretion, transgender persons could serve as witnesses at church weddings and as godparents at baptisms; however, the local priest had to use “pastoral prudence” in making this decision.
Father James Martin, a well-known Jesuit priest and advocate for LGBT rights in the Church, stated on X, then known as Twitter, “This is an important step forward in the Church seeing transgender people not only as people (in a Church where some say they don’t exist) but as Catholics.”
Francis has had meetings with transgender individuals, and in July he said to one of them, “God comes to save us even though we are sinners. God’s crazy love is what the Lord has for us just as we are.”
Citing recent Church canonical legislation that contains no bar against it, the office stated in the paper that a person in a same-sex relationship could likewise serve as a witness at a Catholic wedding.
Regarding same-sex partners and their baptism place—which is a child, adult, or infant’s introduction into the Church—the response was less explicit.
Regarding people in same-sex relationships and their baptism place—which is an adult or infant’s entry into the Church—the response was less explicit.
The Brazilian bishop asked for advice on whether a kid born to a same-sex marriage might be baptized in a Catholic rite if the child had been adopted or had been obtained through surrogacy.
According to the response, there must be “a well-founded hope that it would be educated in the Catholic religion” for a same-sex couple’s kid to be baptized.
When asked if a person in a same-sex relationship could serve as a godparent during a church baptism, the response was equally ambiguous. Per the statement, the individual has to “lead a life that conforms to the faith”.
Source- Reuters
