A new ruling by the Vatican\u2019s doctrine department has opened the door to Catholic baptism for transgender people and babies of same-sex couples. <\/p>\n
The new rules, dated October 31, come from a set of questions, or dubia, submitted to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) by Brazilian bishop Giuseppe Negri. The answers to his questions about certain sacraments were published on the Vatican\u2019s website in Italian on Wednesday evening. <\/p>\n
Regarding transgender people, the document says a person who identifies as transgender can be baptized like any other adult, \u201cas long as there is no risk of causing scandal or disorientation\u201d to other Catholics. <\/p>\n
Children who identify as transgender can also be baptized if \u201cwell prepared and willing,\u201d it says. The document also states that transgender people, including those who have undergone gender reassignment procedures, can be godparents and witnesses in Catholic weddings under the right circumstances. <\/p>\n
Children of same-sex couples can also be baptized, as long as there is a \u201cwell-founded hope that he or she will be educated in the Catholic religion.\u201d <\/p>\n
The document makes clear that people who live in homosexual relationships are still committing a sin, and that baptism must come with repentance for such sins. The document cites several sermons by Pope Francis for the ruling. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems,\u201d the document states, quoting the pope\u2019s 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. <\/p>\n
In each circumstance, the priest is asked to use \u201cpastoral prudence\u201d in deciding whether to allow a transgender person\u2019s participation. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is necessary to consider the real value that the ecclesial community confers on the duties of the godfather and godmother, the role they play in the community, and the consideration they show toward the teaching of the Church.\u201d <\/p>\n
The document added that the priest should also take into consideration if there are other people in the extended family who can \u201cguarantee\u201d the \u201cproper transmission of the Catholic faith\u201d to the baptized person. <\/p>\n
LGBTQ issues were a major area of discussion during the Vatican\u2019s recent synod. <\/p>\n
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of the New Ways Ministry, a Catholic LGBT advocacy group based in the United States, said in a statement that the \u201cVatican\u2019s affirmation that transgender people should be welcomed in the church\u2019s sacramental life signals Pope Francis\u2019 desire for a pastorally-focused approach to LGBTQ+ issues is taking hold.\u201d <\/p>\n
However, the group warns that the ruling doesn\u2019t go far enough. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf church leaders do not employ pastoral prudence with this guideline, it could be used by\u00a0other officials to establish other policies which would exclude such people from other areas of church life,\u201d DeBernardo writes. <\/p>\n
\u201cFocusing particularly on the ineligibility of people in \u2018stable, marriage-like relations\u2019 who are \u2018well known by the community\u2019 suggests that the DDF remains more concerned about \u2018causing scandal\u2019 than about integrating LGBTQ+ Catholics in the lives of the church and of their families,\u201d he continues. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope that church leaders will apply these guidelines by following Pope Francis\u2019 example of extravagant welcome, rather than using them to continue old restrictions.\u201d <\/p>\n
The group calls the affirmation a \u201creversal of a previous Vatican decision\u201d and notes that \u201dnot only does this doctrinal note, known as a responsum ad dubia, remove barriers to transgender people\u2019s participation, it proves that the Catholic Church can\u2014and does\u2014change its mind about certain practices and policies.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
A new ruling by the Vatican\u2019s doctrine department has opened the door to Catholic baptism for transgender people and babies of same-sex couples. The new rules, dated October 31, come from a set of questions, or dubia, submitted to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) by Brazilian bishop Giuseppe Negri. The answers <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":11380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}