Willful Ignorance or Malicious Intent?
A recent document, signed October 31 by Pope Francis and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave a response to a letter submitted in July by Bishop José Negri of Santo Amaro, Brazil, "containing some questions about the possible participation in baptism and weddings by transsexual persons and homo-affective persons." The response simply reiterates traditional Church teaching and the vitriol I have witnessed from alleged conservatives and Christians can only be described as demonic.
In response to the question of baptism, the article states that a “transsexual — even one who has undergone hormone treatment and gender reassignment surgery — may receive baptism under the same conditions as other faithful”. The primary condition for baptism is identical to all other repentant sinners with a sincere desire to receive the Sacrament. The language makes this explicit by explaining how the conditions apply to “other faithful” or believers. In other words, it doesn't apply to non-believers or those with an insincere desire to receive the Sacrament. However, some critics have claimed the response is ambiguous because it doesn't explicitly state what the conditions are. These critics are reading with a hermeneutics of suspicion, rather than charitably interpretating the text, because unless the conditions have changed, then it is clear that repentance and a desire to live the Gospel is the primary condition. Are the critics suggesting there is a "new" condition that the Pope is purposefully concealing? That any sinner can say, "I don't believe in any of this stuff, but baptize me regardless." The conditions are explained in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults:
Prior to beginning the process of becoming a Christian, an individual comes to some knowledge of Jesus Christ, considers his or her relationship with Jesus Christ and is usually attracted in some way to the Catholic Church. This period is known as the Period of Evangelization and Precatechumenate. For some, this process involves a long period of searching; for others, a shorter time. Often, contact with people of faith and a personal faith experience lead people to inquire about the Catholic Church. After a conversation with a priest or a parish director of Christian Initiation, the person, known as an "inquirer," may seek acceptance into the Order of Catechumens, through the Rite of Acceptance. During this Rite, the inquirer stands amidst the parish community and states that he or she wants to become a baptized member of the Catholic Church. The parish assembly affirms this desire and the inquirer becomes a Catechumen.
The Period of the Catechumenatecan last for as long as several years or for a shorter time. It depends on how the person is growing in faith, what questions they encounter along the way, and how God leads them on this journey. During this time, the Catechumens consider what God is saying to them in the Scriptures, what changes in their life they need to make to respond to God's inspiration, and what Baptism in the Catholic Church means. When a Catechumen and the priest and the parish team working with him or her believes the person is ready to make a faith commitment to Jesus in the Catholic Church, the next step is the request for baptism and the celebration of the Rite of Election. Even before the Catechumens are baptized, they have a special relationship to the Church.
The Rite of Election includes the enrollment of names of all the Catechumens seeking baptism at the coming Easter Vigil. Typically, on the first Sunday of Lent, the Catechumens, their sponsors and families gather at the cathedral church. The Catechumens publicly express their desire for baptism to the diocesan bishop. Their names are recorded in a book and they are called the Elect.
The days of Lent are the final Period of Purification and Enlightenment leading up to the Easter Vigil. Lent is a period of preparation marked by prayer, study, and spiritual direction for the Elect, and prayers for them by the parish communities. The Celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation takes place during the Easter Vigil Liturgy on Holy Saturday when the Elect receives the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist. Now the person is fully initiated into the Catholic Church.
As you can see, it is a serious and lengthy process. The sin of transgenderism isn't a unique sin that permanently prohibits a person from baptism. A person who has had transgender surgery is treated like any other unbaptized person. The condition is that the person repents and desires a personal relationship with Christ. A person who previously had transgender surgery and now recognizes his mistake and truly desires to live according to the Gospel can be baptized just like any other sinner. What is the criticism here? Are critics suggesting that anyone who has ever sinned be permanently banned from the Sacrament? Are they saying the sin of transgenderism is unforgivable? That's the Father of Lies speaking. It certainly isn't the Church. More likely though, the critics didn't carefully read the response and are falsely accusing the Pope of saying transgenderism is not sinful and must be accepted and celebrated. Of course, the document says no such thing.
The document explains that in particular instances, special care must be taken when "there are doubts about the objective moral situation in which the person finds him—or herself, or about his or her subjective dispositions toward grace." Again, this special care applies to any individual with the desire to receive the Sacrament, but it could be argued that since LGTBQ+ are hot button political issues, they require more scrutiny. Regardless, this is done on a case by case basis and within the authority of the parish priest.
The document further explains the “church teaches that when baptism is received without repentance for serious sins…he or she receives the ‘sacramental character’ but not ‘sanctifying grace.’” Within the context of special care regarding any doubts an individual may have, this means that after an individual completes the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and it is reasonable to conclude that any doubts are merely “faith seeking understanding”, the individual can proceed with the baptism. The document is not suggesting that under normal circumstances those who knowingly refuse to repent for grave sins will be baptized, but rather that in a given situation where the doubts were more serious than initially thought or where the individual refused to disclose important information, that only the “sacramental character” is received. In other words, an individual can fool a parish priest, but he can't fool God.
The article goes on to talk about scandal in addition to the primary requirement. Here is how the Magisterium defines scandal:
Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor's tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death. Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense.
In this case, a gender confused individual who had previously gone through surgery and repents of this sin, can still cause scandal by giving the impression to the ignorant public that it's permissible to mutilate your body if the purpose is to look more like the opposite sex. The document simply points out that we also need to keep this in mind when baptizing gender confused persons.
Another area of confusion is the language used in the document. Critics have suggested that since the document uses the term ‘transgender’ person, that Pope Francis is implicitly affirming the ontological reality of transgenderism. Furthermore, the critics claim, this also means Pope Francis is suggesting that a ‘transgender’ person, can live in full communion with the Church in the state of his ‘transition’. This is simply how the language is commonly used regarding the topic, but if we are going to be pedantic about language, both "gender transition" and "detransition" are ontologically impossible. Thus, when the Pope is speaking of someone who has "transitioned," he is not suggesting that there is an ontologically real category of persons who have "transitioned" from one sex to the other. When we speak of "transition surgery" or "hormone therapy," the specific species of acts we are talking about is any bodily mutilation with the intent of looking more like the opposite sex. The sin of bodily mutilation is not a unique and unforgivable category of sin. The Pope is simply reiterating traditional Church teaching. Any sinner who repents and sincerely desires to live according to the Gospel can receive the Sacrament of Baptism. LGTBQ+ sins are not excluded.
Much of the same kind of criticism was given regarding the document explaining how in particular circumstances it is permissible for a transgender person to be a godparent. Again, the Pope is not suggesting the ontological reality of transgenderism. The conditions for godparents remain the same for every potential godparent.
The proposed godparent must be a practicing Catholic. This means baptized, in full communion with the Church, and regularly attends mass. The Church doesn't prohibit sinners from being godparents. If that were the case, nobody would be eligible. You can also ask yourself, would you allow an adulterer to be the godparent of your child? Would you allow a fornicater to be the godparent of your child? We are all sinners. The same conditions apply to us all when it comes to being a godparent. I can think of an example where it's perfectly licit for someone with gender dysphoria to be a godparent — a currently practicing Catholic who had formally removed his parts to appear more like a woman. This hypothetical person has repented of his previous sin and now lives in full communion with the Church. To deny this person the possibility of being a godparent would be inherently unjust. Pope Francis is not suggesting that in every particular situation a transgender person should be a godparent, but simply that there are situations where it is permissible. This would be up to the decision of the parents and the parish priest.
None of this suggest there are not legitimate criticisms of Pope Francis. Many thoughtful and well respected philosophers and theologians have taken issue with Pope Francis on topics that appear to be at odds with traditional Church teaching. The problem with many is they take legitimate criticism and turn it into a hermeneutics of suspicion, clouding clear judgment with emotions and questioning even the most customary things Pope Francis says.