Transgender people may be baptised within the Catholic Church so long as there isn’t a risk of causing scandal or confusion, the Vatican has said.
Pope Francis said a transgender person – those that have undergone hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery – can receive baptism “under the identical conditions of the opposite faithful”.
It is allowed “if there are not any situations wherein there’s a risk of generating a public scandal or confusion among the many faithful”, read the notice published by the Church’s doctrinal office on Wednesday.
The updated stance also said transgender people might be godparents at a baptism, but that a priest could refuse if there “is a risk of scandal, of undue legitimation or disorientation in the academic field of the ecclesial community”.
The publication, approved by Pope Francis on 21 October, was in response to 6 questions on the inclusion of LGBT+ people at baptisms and weddings by Bishop Jose Negri in Brazil.
It signals attempts by the Church to be more accommodating to transgender people.
And it has been welcomed by those that have pushed for greater acceptance within the Church. Francis DeBernardo, of the New Ways Ministry in Maryland, US, said: “It is a significant step for trans inclusion … it’s big and excellent news.”
The Reverend James Martin, a Jesuit priest who has also campaigned for greater LGBT+ inclusion, said: “In many dioceses and parishes transgender Catholics have been severely restricted from participating within the lifetime of the church, not due to any canon law, but stemming from the choices of bishops, priests and pastoral associates.
“So the Vatican‘s statement is a transparent recognition not only of their personhood, but of their place in their very own church.”
The decreed also answered a matter from Bishop Negri on whether same-sex parents who adopt or use a surrogate moms could have a baby baptised within the church, stating it might be done if there was “a well-founded hope that it might be educated within the Catholic religion”.
On whether an individual in a same-sex relationship might be a godparent at a baptism, the statement said the person needed to “lead a life that conforms to the religion”.
Mr DeBernardo said the document “proves that the Catholic Church can – and does – change its mind about certain practices and policies”, and suggested some diocesan anti-trans policies might now should be rescinded.
In July, Pope Francis told a young transgender individual that “God loves us as we’re”, comments that were seen as one other outreach to members of the LGBT+ community.
The Pope’s position on the LGBT+ community and gay marriage has been a subject of interest and discussion since he became the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013.
