Rome — The Vatican has blasted the practices of gender-affirming surgery and maternal surrogacy in a recent document, declaring each are inconsistent with God’s plan for human life. The Catholic Church’s document puts each practices on a par with abortion and euthanasia when it comes to their perceived negative impact on human dignity.
The document, titled “Infinite Dignity,” reiterates the Catholic principle that individuals cannot alter their gender, as God created men and ladies with inherent biological differences.
The declaration, which was developed over five years and approved by Pope Francis, stresses the importance of respecting these differences and cautions against attempts to contradict them and “make oneself God.”
It makes allowances for the complexities surrounding “genital abnormalities” that might be present at birth or develop later in life, adding that such situations could also be “resolved” with the help of health care professionals.
In addition to affirming traditional Catholic doctrine opposing abortion and euthanasia, the 20-page document also addresses contemporary issues including poverty, war, human trafficking and compelled migration.
On the subject of surrogacy, it flatly states the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition, whether the lady carrying a toddler “is coerced into it or chooses to subject herself to it freely,” since the child, in response to the church, “becomes a mere means subservient to the arbitrary gain or desire of others.”
The document has widely been seen as a reaffirmation of existing Vatican positions. Late in 2023, Pope Francis made headlines when he called surrogacy “deplorable” and voiced concern that the method could involve human trafficking as biological parents are sometimes in several countries than surrogate moms.
Laws on surrogacy differ world wide, but only just a few nations, and some states within the U.S., allow industrial surrogacy. Others allow altruistic surrogacy, where no money is exchanged, but many other nations, including most in Europe, have banned the practice altogether.
In 2017, Francis said in a speech that gender affirmation treatment constituted a violation of human dignity.
The recent document’s content and timing were taken as a nod to conservatives, after a more explosive document approving blessings for same-sex couples and allowing transgender people to be baptized and act as godparents sparked criticism from conservative bishops world wide, especially in Africa.
In 2023, the pontiff published a letter declaring: “We can’t be judges who only deny, reject, and exclude.”
Conservative clerics reeled, insisting that to bless same-sex marriage was a contradiction of centuries of Catholic teaching.
American conservative leaders, specifically, warned that if Francis didn’t keep on with doctrine, he could provoke a everlasting split throughout the church.
The latest document also warns of “unjust discrimination,” especially in countries where transgender persons are criminalized and imprisoned and, in some cases, even put to death.
