Transgender People Can Be Baptized; Become Godparents – Vatican

The doctrinal department of the Vatican has issued a new rule that permits same-sex couples’ children and transgender individuals to be baptized in Catholic churches.

The new regulations, which are effective as of October 31, are based on a series of queries, or Dubai, that Brazilian bishop Giuseppe Negri filed with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF). On the Vatican website, the responses to his inquiries concerning specific sacraments were made available.

A transgender person can be baptized like any other adult, according to the text, “as long as there is no risk of causing scandal or disorientation” to other Catholics.

It states that transgender children who are “well prepared and willing” can likewise be baptized. According to the text, under certain conditions, transgender individuals—including those who have undergone gender reassignment surgery—can serve as godparents and witnesses at Catholic weddings.

As long as there is a “well-founded hope that he or she will be educated in the Catholic religion,” children of same-sex couples are likewise eligible for baptism.

According to the document, being in a homosexual relationship is still a sin, and receiving baptism requires repentance for such offences. The textbases its decision on numerous of Pope Francis’s lectures.

“The church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems,” the document states, quoting the pope’s 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.

The priest is asked to exercise “pastoral prudence” in each situation when determining whether to permit a transgender person to participate.

“It 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.”

According to the paper, the priest should also assess whether there are other members of the extended family who can “guarantee” the baptised person’s “proper transmission of the Catholic faith.”

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 “Vatican’s affirmation that transgender people should be welcomed in the church’s sacramental life signals Pope Francis’ desire for a pastorally-focused approach to LGBTQ+ issues is taking hold.”

The group cautions that the decision does not go far enough.

“If church leaders do not employ pastoral prudence with this guideline, it could be used by other officials to establish other policies which would exclude such people from other areas of church life,” DeBernardo writes.

“Focusing particularly on the ineligibility of people in ‘stable, marriage-like relations’ who are ‘well known by the community’ suggests that the DDF remains more concerned about ‘causing scandal’ than about integrating LGBTQ+ Catholics in the lives of the church and of their families,” he continues.

“We hope that church leaders will apply these guidelines by following Pope Francis’ example of extravagant welcome, rather than using them to continue old restrictions.”