Vatican Approves Baptism for Transgenders as well as Baptizing Children Acquired by Same-Sex Couples
The Vatican officially released a statement saying people who have undergone sex reassignment surgery can now be baptized so long as there is “no risk of causing a public scandal or disorientation among the faithful”. Following this logic, the Vatican’s response to questions from Bishop Jose Negri of Santo Amaro in Brazil, with official approval from Pope Francis given October 31, also allowed for the adopted children of same-sex couples to be baptized so long as there is “a well-founded hope that it would be educated in the Catholic religion”.
(Source: Reuters) “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 really exist) but as Catholics,” Father James Martin, a prominent Jesuit priest and supporter of LGBT rights in the Church, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Francis has met with transgender people and in July, he told a transgender person: “Even if we are sinners, he (God) draws near to help us. The Lord loves us as we are, this is God’s crazy love.”
The document said a person in a same-sex relationship could also be a witness at a Catholic wedding, the office said, citing current Church canonical legislation which contained no prohibition against it.
The response was less clear regarding persons in same-sex relationships and their role in baptism, which is the initiation into the Church for infants, children or adults.
The Brazilian bishop sought guidance on whether a same-sex couple who had adopted a child or obtained it from a surrogate mother could have that child baptized in a Catholic ceremony.
The response said that for the child of a same-sex couple to be baptized, there had to be “a well-founded hope that it would be educated in the Catholic religion”.
There was a similarly nuanced response to a question whether a person in a same-sex relationship could be a godparent at a Church baptism. It said the person had to “lead a life that conforms to the faith”.
We have to ask: does anyone in the Roman Catholic Church even know what that means anymore?
As NFTU noted last year, Archbishop Elpidophoros performed such a baptism already, so he’s in line with Papal teaching!
