VATICAN CITY (AP) 鈥 The Vatican on Monday declared gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy as grave violations of human dignity, putting them on par with abortion and euthanasia as practices that it said reject God鈥檚 plan for human life.
The Vatican鈥檚 doctrine office issued 鈥淚nfinite Dignity,鈥 a 20-page declaration that has been in the works for five years. After substantial revision in recent months, it was approved March 25 by Pope Francis, who ordered its publication.
From a pope who has a hallmark of his papacy, the document was received as a setback, albeit predictable, by trans Catholics. But its message was also consistent with the Argentine Jesuit's long-standing belief that while trans people should be welcomed in the church, so-called 鈥済ender ideologies鈥 should not.
In its most eagerly anticipated section, the Vatican repeated its rejection of 鈥済ender theory,鈥 or the idea that one鈥檚 biological sex can change. It said God created man and woman as biologically different, separate beings, and said people must not tinker with that or try to "make oneself God.鈥
鈥淚t follows that any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception,鈥 the document said.
It distinguished between gender-affirming surgeries, which it rejected, and 鈥済enital abnormalities鈥 that are present at birth or that develop later. Those abnormalities can be 鈥渞esolved鈥 with the help of health care professionals, it said.
Advocates for LGBTQ+ Catholics immediately criticized the document as outdated, harmful and contrary to the stated goal of recognizing the 鈥渋nfinite dignity鈥 of all of God's children. They warned it could have real-world effects on trans people, fueling anti-trans violence and discrimination.
鈥淲hile it lays out a wonderful rationale for why each human being, regardless of condition in life, must be respected, honored, and loved, it does not apply this principle to gender-diverse people,鈥 said Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, which advocates for LGBTQ+ Catholics.
Nicolete Burbach, lead expert in social and environmental justice at the London Jesuit Centre, said the document showed the Vatican continues to fail to engage with queer and feminist approaches to the body 鈥渨hich it simply dismisses as supposedly subjecting both the body and human dignity itself to human whims.鈥
鈥淚 think the main difficulty faced by the document is that it attempts to affirm the church鈥檚 authentic commitment to human dignity in the face of a troubling history on the part of the church itself around attacks on that dignity,鈥 said Burbach, a trans Catholic theologian who researches transness and the Catholic Church.
The document鈥檚 existence, rumored since 2019, was confirmed in recent weeks by the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Argentine Cardinal V铆ctor Manuel Fern谩ndez, a close Francis confidant.
Fern谩ndez had cast the document as something of a nod to conservatives after he authored a more explosive document that sparked criticism from conservative bishops around the world, especially in Africa.
And yet, in an apparent attempt at balance, the document takes pointed aim at countries 鈥 including many in Africa 鈥 that criminalize homosexuality. It echoed Francis' assertion in a 2023 interview with The Associated Press that ."
The new document denounces 鈥渁s contrary to human dignity the fact that, in some places, not a few people are imprisoned, tortured, and even deprived of the good of life solely because of their sexual orientation.鈥
The White House said President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, was 鈥減leased鈥 to see that the declaration 鈥渇urthers the Vatican鈥檚 call to ensure that LGBTQ+ (individuals) are protected from violence and imprisonment around the world,鈥 press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
On the specifics involving gender theory, Jean-Pierre stressed that it was not Biden鈥檚 role to 鈥渓itigate internal church policy.鈥
Asked how its negative take on trans people squared with Francis鈥 message of welcome, Fern谩ndez said the welcome remained but that the pope fervently believed that the idea that gender was fluid 鈥渞ather than helping to recognize dignity, impoverishes the vision鈥 of a man and woman coming together to create new life.
The document is something of a repackaging of previously articulated Vatican positions, read now through the prism of human dignity. It restates well-known Catholic doctrine opposing abortion and euthanasia, and adds to the list some of Francis鈥 main concerns as pope: the threats to human dignity posed by poverty, war, human trafficking, the death penalty and forced migration.
In a newly articulated position, it says .
While much attention about surrogacy has focused on possible exploitation of poor women as surrogates, the Vatican asserts that the child "has the right to have a fully human (and not artificially induced) origin and to receive the gift of a life that manifests both the dignity of the giver and that of the receiver.鈥
鈥淐onsidering this, the legitimate desire to have a child cannot be transformed into a 鈥榬ight to a child鈥 that fails to respect the dignity of that child as the recipient of the gift of life,鈥 it said.
The Vatican had previously published its most articulated position on gender in 2019, when the Congregation for Catholic Education or change their genders and insisted on the complementarity of biologically male and female sex organs to create new life.
The new document from the more authoritative Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith quotes from that 2019 education document, but tempers the tone. Significantly, it doesn鈥檛 repeat Vatican doctrine that homosexual people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect but that homosexual actions are 鈥渋ntrinsically disordered.鈥
In a news conference to introduce the document, Fern谩ndez acknowledged that the 鈥渋ntrinsically disordered鈥 language was very strong. He suggested there might be a better way, "with other words," to express the church's vision of sex between husband and wife to create new life.
Francis has ministered to trans Catholics, including trans sex workers, and insisted that the Catholic Church must welcome all children of God.
But he has also denounced 鈥済ender theory鈥 as the 鈥渨orst danger鈥 facing humanity today, an 鈥渦gly ideology鈥 that threatens to cancel out God-given differences between man and woman. He has blasted in particular what he calls the 鈥渋deological colonization鈥 of the West in the developing world, where development aid is sometimes conditioned on adopting Western ideas about gender.
Transgender activists immediately called the document 鈥渉urtful鈥 and devoid of the voices and experiences of real trans people, especially in the distinction it makes between gender-affirming surgeries and surgeries on intersex people.
鈥淭he suggestion that gender-affirming health care 鈥 which has saved the lives of so many wonderful trans people and enabled them to live in harmony with their bodies, their communities and (God) 鈥 might risk or diminish trans people's dignity is not only hurtful but dangerously ignorant,鈥 said Mara Klein, a nonbinary, transgender activist who has participated in Germany鈥檚 church reform project.
Klein said the Vatican 鈥渉ypocrisy鈥 was furthered by the document's approval of surgery on intersex people, 鈥渨hich if performed without consent especially on minors often cause immense physical and psychological harm.鈥
The document comes at a time of some backlash against transgender people, including in the United States where Republican-led state legislatures are considering a new round of bills 鈥 and in some cases, adults.
鈥淥n top of the rising hostility towards our communities, we are faced with a church that does not listen and refuses to see the beauty of creation that can be found in our biographies,鈥 Klein said in an email.
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AP writer Darlene Superville contributed from Air Force One.
