Vatican says trans people can be baptized, serve as godparents
The Vatican this week released a document that says transgender people, under certain circumstances, can be baptized, serve as godparents, and serve as witnesses to Catholic weddings.
The document, which was signed by Pope Francis and a high-level Vatican cardinal, was released Nov. 8 on the website of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Among other conditions it appears to set, the document says a trans person, including those who have had gender affirmation surgery, can be baptized if the person is not likely to cause a “scandal.” It says a trans person can also serve as a godparent if there is no “risk of scandal” to the church.
The LGBT Catholic organizations New Ways Ministry and Dignity USA issued statements saying they would have preferred the Vatican to advance its support more definitively for transgender Catholics and LGBTQ Catholics in general, but they consider the latest statement an important step in the right direction. “This development confirms that the pope and high-ranking church leaders do not perceive gender identity as a de facto barrier for participating in Catholic sacraments,” said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry. “This affirmation, itself a reversal of a previous Vatican decision, contrasts strikingly against the restrictions some U.S.
