As Pope Francis continues to support the LGBTQ community after initially offering criticism, the Vatican is taking a progressive step in allowing transgender Catholics to be baptized and to become godparents.
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While the National Conference of Catholic bishops have rejected the concept of gender transition in the United States, in Rome, Italy, the Vatican made a public statement in strong opposition. On Wednesday (November 8), the Vatican said that it is now permissible, under certain circumstances, for transgender Catholics to be baptized and to serve as godparents.
In a statement, released online by the Vatican’s Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith and translated from Italian, it reads, “A transgender person, even if they have undergone hormone therapy and sex-reassignment surgery, can receive baptism under the same conditions as other faithful, if there are no situations in which there is a risk of generating a public scandal or disorientation among the faithful.”
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It is reported that the statement, approved and signed by Pope Francis and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández on October 31, was a response to six questions presented by Bishop Jose Negri of Santo Amaro, São Paulo, Brazil in July. At the time, Negri questioned the Vatican about LGBTQ people’s involvement in routine Catholic practices.
In their message, Vatican officials also concluded that transgender people can be godparents and witnesses at religious weddings. Additionally, individuals in same-sex relationships can also be a witness in Catholic weddings.
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However, as earlier mentioned, there are some stipulations. One seemingly being that children either adopted by same-sex couples or conceived through surrogacy cannot be baptized. It was also implied that people in same-sex relationships should not be godparents to baptized children.
With transgender Catholics now being able to serve as godfathers or godmothers, it is reported that it arrives as a reversal of a 2015 Vatican decision to bar a transgender man in Spain from becoming a godparent.
Also as mentioned earlier, Pope Francis early-on criticized same-sex marriages and homosexuality. However, in recent times, he has started to frequently express an interest in welcoming everyone into the Catholic church community, despite prior doctrines rejecting same-sex marriage and sexual activity.
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