Transgender people can be baptised Catholic, serve as godparents, Vatican says
- They can also be witnesses at religious weddings, the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith says, in response to questions from a bishop
- Pope Francis has tried to make the church more welcoming to the LGBTQ community without changing church teachings
Transgender people can be godparents at Roman Catholic baptisms, witnesses at religious weddings and receive baptism themselves, the Vatican’s doctrinal office said on Wednesday, responding to questions from a bishop.
The department, known as the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, was vague however, in response to a question of whether a same-sex couple could have a Church baptism for an adopted child or one obtained through a surrogate mother.
Bishop Jose Negri of Santo Amaro in Brazil sent the doctrinal office six questions in July regarding LGBTQ people and their participation in the sacraments of baptism and matrimony.
The three pages of questions and answers were signed by the department’s head, Argentine Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, and approved by Pope Francis on October 31. They were posted on the department’s website on Wednesday using the Italian word for “transsexuals”.
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Francis, 86, has tried to make the church more welcoming to the LGBTQ community without changing church teachings, including one saying that same-sex attraction is not sinful but same-sex acts are.
In response to a question of whether transgender people can be baptised, the doctrinal office said they could with some conditions and as long as there is “no risk of causing a public scandal or disorientation among the faithful”.