Vatican Rules Transgender People And Babies Of Same-Sex Couples Can Be Baptized

BANGKOK, THAILAND - NOVEMBER 21: Pope Francis visits the Saint Louis Hospital on November 21, 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. Pope Francis arrived in Bangkok yesterday to begin a three day tour in Thailand followed by Japan. This is the first visit by the head of the Roman Catholic church since St. John Paul II back in 1984. Thailand, a Buddhist country has approximately 388,000 Catholics, out of 69 million people. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)
(Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)

OAN’s James Meyers
1:21 PM – Thursday, November 9, 2023

The Vatican’s new ruling will now allow transgender people and babies of same-sex couples to be baptized. 

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The ruling came down on Wednesday, expanding the Catholic church’s acceptance of LGBTQ+ members. 

“A transgender person, even if they have undergone hormone therapy and sex-reassignment surgery, can receive baptism under the same conditions as other faithful, if there are no situations in which there is a risk of generating a public scandal or disorientation among the faithful,” the church said in a document published Wednesday.

“The church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems,” the document states, quoting the pope’s 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.

The move comes after a Brazilian bishop questioned the Vatican in July over its LGBTQ+ members being involved in routine Catholic practices. 

Additionally, the document stated that transgender people are allowed to be godparents and witnesses at Catholic weddings and that people in same-sex relationships are also allowed to witness weddings, however, they cannot be godparents.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops rejected the idea of gender transition since the Vatican was established. 

“It is a major step for trans inclusion … it is big and good news,” Francis DeBernardo, executive director of Maryland-based New Ways Ministry, told The Associated Press.

Reverend James Martin, a Jesuit priest who has been a known advocate for “transgender rights” in the Catholic church, welcomed the new policy.

“In many dioceses and parishes, including in the U.S., transgender Catholics have been severely restricted from participating in the life of the church, not because of any canon law, but stemming from the decisions of bishops, priests and pastoral associates,” he said in a statement to the AP.

“So the Vatican’s statement is a clear recognition not only of their personhood, but of their place in their own church,” he said. “I hope that it helps the Catholic Church treat them less as problems and more as people.”

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