This is a “yes, but” of the Catholic Church. Transgender faithful can be baptized if this does not cause “scandal” or “confusion,” the Vatican said on Wednesday, clarifying a particularly sensitive subject of doctrine.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has also raised no objection to the baptism of children of same-sex couples, whether adopted or born through surrogacy.
Homosexuality still considered “a sin”
The comments were made in a document responding to questions from a Brazilian bishop, written on October 31 but only now made public. The document was endorsed by Pope Francis, who has repeatedly said the Church should be open to all, including LGBT+ believers.
However, he made it clear that he considered homosexuality to be “a sin, as is any sexual act outside of marriage.” Catholic teaching defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman with the aim of having children.
The Vatican does not want a “public scandal”
In the document, the dicastery specifies that transgender faithful “can receive baptism, under the same conditions as other faithful, if there is no situation in which there is a risk of generating public scandal or uncertainty among the faithful. This same advice applies to someone who has undergone hormonal treatment and/or sex reassignment surgery.
To the question of whether a same-sex couple could be considered to be the parents of a child who must be baptized, the dicastery limited itself to answering that there must be a “well-founded hope” that the child will be educated in the Catholic religion.