The Vatican reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s opposition to radical gender theory in a new document published Monday, saying sex change procedures threaten the “unique dignity” of a person.
The document, “Dignitas Infinita” or “Infinite Dignity,” was signed by Pope Francis and warns against “the age-old temptation to make oneself God.”
“Regarding gender theory, whose scientific coherence is the subject of considerable debate among experts, the Church recalls that human life in all its dimensions, both physical and spiritual, is a gift from God,” the Vatican document reads.
“Desiring a personal self-determination, as gender theory prescribes, apart from this fundamental truth that human life is a gift, amounts to a concession to the age-old temptation to make oneself God, entering into competition with the true God of love revealed to us in the Gospel,” the document says.
Biological sex and gender — “the socio-cultural role of sex” — can be “distinguished but not separated,” the Vatican said.
Radical gender theory is also problematic because it denies sexual difference, which threatens the family, the Vatican continued.
“In the male-female couple, this difference achieves the most marvelous of reciprocities,” the document reads. “It thus becomes the source of that miracle that never ceases to surprise us: the arrival of new human beings in the world.”
“Only by acknowledging and accepting this difference in reciprocity can each person fully discover themselves, their dignity, and their identity,” the Vatican said.
It is “unacceptable” that gender theory asserts itself as “absolute and unquestionable, even dictating how children should be raised,” the document says.
On medical sex change procedures, the Vatican reminded readers of the Church’s position that “humans are inseparably composed of both body and soul.”
“We are called to protect our humanity, and this means, in the first place, accepting it and respecting it as it was created,” the Vatican said. “It follows that any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception.”
The document also reaffirms the Church’s opposition to surrogacy, abortion, and euthanasia.
Surrogacy, in which a woman carries an unborn child for someone else, turns an “immensely worthy child” into a “mere object,” the Vatican said.
Pope Francis has previously called for a universal ban on surrogacy.
Monday’s document comes after a Vatican document released in November resulted in significant confusion around the Catholic Church’s position on trans-identifying people.
The November document intended to clarify that people who previously received gender surgery or hormone treatment can be baptized and be godparents under certain conditions.
A person who has received gender surgery or hormone treatment can be baptized “under the same conditions as other believers,” the Vatican said.
On the godparent issue, the Vatican said that people who have undergone transgender medical treatment can serve as godparents, but “pastoral prudence demands that it not be permitted if there is a risk of scandal.”
In recent years, there has been much speculation about whether Pope Francis would change the Catholic Church’s approach to LGBT people.
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The Catholic Church never changes its official doctrine, although it often clarifies particular points.
Transgender medical interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transgender surgeries like genital surgeries and double mastectomies have exploded in popularity in the last few years, first in Europe and, more recently, in the U.S.
Several European countries have begun to curb these transgender medical interventions for children, more and more of whom are seeking them out.
At least 24 U.S. states have also cracked down on these medical interventions for minors.