The Vatican announced that transgender individuals may be baptized in the Catholic Church.
“A transgender person, even if they have undergone hormone therapy and sex-reassignment surgery, can receive baptism under the same conditions as other faithful, if there are no situations in which there is a risk of generating a public scandal or disorientation among the faithful,” an official said in a document.
The statement came in response to several questions including:
“Can a transsexual be baptized?”
“Can a transsexual be a godfather or godmother at baptism?”
“Can a transsexual be a witness to a wedding?”
“Can two homoemotional people appear as parents of a child, who must be baptized, and who was adopted or obtained through other methods such as a rented womb?”
“Can a homoemotional person who lives together be the godfather of a baptized person?”
“Can a homoemotional and cohabiting person be a witness to a wedding?”
A Jesuit priest, James Martin, reacted to the decision by tweeting, “The Vatican’s new ruling that transgender people can be baptized, serve as godparents and be witnesses to Catholic marriages. In some dioceses, they were prevented from doing so by local pastors. As such, 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.”
