Vatican Says Trans People Can Be Baptised And Become Godparents In Catholic Church
A document signed by Pope Francis and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández states that a transgender person can be baptised and become a godparent in the Catholic Church under certain circumstances.
The document was posted in Italian on the office’s website yesterday in response to a letter submitted in July by Bishop José Negri “containing some questions about the possible participation in baptism and weddings by transexual persons and homo-affective persons.”
The response to the questions in the letter was that “there is nothing in current universal canonical legislation that prohibits” from serving as witnesses at a Catholic marriage.
A transgender person “may receive baptism under the same conditions as other faithful,” the document said.
However, the document states that gay persons living together in a relationship similar to marriage probably should not serve as godparents but can be invited to serve as witnesses to the baptism.
The document also adds that priests have the discretion to refuse requests for transgender people to become godparents if “there is a danger of scandal, undue legitimisation, or disorientation in the educational sphere of the church community.”
What do you make of the Vatican’s statement?
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