The Radical Implications of “Transsexual Baptism”
Eduardo Echeverria
Does the Church now accept transgenderism, that is, “gender diversity,” in virtue of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s recent response to the question of whether so-called “transsexuals” may be baptized? If so, does it therefore eliminate the normative status of the creation-based anthropology wherein sexual difference between male and female is fundamental to our humanity, and hence to conjugal marriage?
And is the DDF’s apparent rejection of sexual differentiation inconsistent, not only with the 2019 document from the Congregation for Catholic Education (hereafter CCE), namely, “Male and Female He Created Them: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education,” but also from Pope Francis’s teaching (following John Paul II and Benedict XVI) in Amoris Laetitia? And even more worrisome, what is to prevent the logical slippage of this position to transsexual marriage and transsexual priestly ordination?. …
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The Transformation That Baptism Promises
Fr. Brian A. Graebe
The Vatican made headlines yet again last week in answering questions about the eligibility of transgender persons to be baptized and serve as sponsors or witnesses to sacraments. In itself, much of the document should not be controversial. With baptism in particular, the bar for denying someone the sacrament is high. Absent outright hostility to the faith (in which case one is unlikely to seek the sacrament anyway) the presumption should always be in favor of baptizing.
The Church’s normal praxis speaks to this broad access: the sacrament requires a common element – water – and allows anyone, even an atheist, to administer it validly. Whatever psychological issues a transgender person may be experiencing and struggling with, God’s saving grace is available to all who seek it with a sincere heart. Insofar as it affirms these basic truths, the response from the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith underscores the welcoming and inclusive vision of the Church that Pope Francis has prioritized. …
