The statement is likely to be embraced by conservatives and stir consternation among L.G.B.T.Q. advocates who fear it will be used as a cudgel against transgender people.
The Vatican on Monday issued a new document approved by Pope Francis stating that the church believes that gender fluidity and transition surgery, as well as surrogacy, amount to affronts to human dignity.
The sex a person is born with, the document argued, was an “irrevocable gift” from God and “any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception.” People who desire “a personal self-determination, as gender theory prescribes,” risk conceding “to the age-old temptation to make oneself God.”
The document also unequivocally states the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to surrogacy, whether the woman carrying a baby “is coerced into it or chooses to subject herself to it freely” because the child “becomes a mere means subservient to the arbitrary gain or desire of others.”
The document was intended as a broad statement of the church’s view on human dignity, which included the exploitation of the poor, migrants, women and vulnerable people. Though five years in the making, it comes just months after Pope Francis upset more conservative corners of his church by explicitly allowing L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics to receive blessings from priests and by allowing transgender people to be baptized and act as godparents
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@ISIDEWITH1mo1MO
Can the refusal to acknowledge gender fluidity and changes be considered a form of denying someone's personal autonomy and freedom, and why?
@9LDY68N1mo1MO
Everyone should be welcomed and loved the same no matter what their gender is or what they want it to be.
@9LDY2W71mo1MO
Trans people deserve the same rights as cis people
@9LDX2PX1mo1MO
I believe that the refusal to acknowledge gender fluidity is denying someone's personal autonomy and freedom because we are all free to express ourselves in the way we choose as long as it is not a clear and present harm to other individuals.
@9LDYHBDWomen’s Equality1mo1MO
i think people should just let people be and mind their business instead of worrying whats in someones pants
@ISIDEWITH1mo1MO
Why might the idea of changing one's gender be seen as a threat to human dignity, from the perspective of those who agree with the Vatican's statement?
@9LF8SN5Libertarian4wks4W
As a Catholic man with strong religious beliefs, I believe that changing might be seen as a threat to humans dignity because not only are we showing little kids that changing their gender is okay but its basically saying that God did not make us perfect and this mental illness will be spread to others too if something isn't done to stop it.
@9LDY4XS1mo1MO
I think once you are born in the gender your born in no surgerys can actually change it
@9LDX36V1mo1MO
Do what you want just don't hurt others and their integrity.
@9LDX28FProgressive1mo1MO
It shouldn't matter what anyone's gender is or how you treat them. It doesn't hurt anyone.
@ISIDEWITH1mo1MO
How does defining gender solely based on physical traits at birth impact the personal identity and dignity of individuals who feel differently?
The document also unequivocally states the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to surrogacy, whether the woman carrying a baby “is coerced into it or chooses to subject herself to it freely” because the child “becomes a mere means subservient to the arbitrary gain or desire of others.”
Interesting take on surrogacy. I believe, Mary, the mother of Jesus was the OG surrogate.
For decades I have had colleagues, friends and family who are LGBTQ, and when it comes to dealing with LGBTQ people my impression is that most Americans are willing to live and let live as far as adults are concerned.
However, I also think most Americans do not support drag shows for minors; puberty blockers and irreversible surgery for minors; trans-male-to-female people competing in women's sports; gender-hiding clothes for children; schools and teachers who promote sexual identity change of students without notifying parents; etc.
What consenting adults do with and to each other and themselves is their own business; what is done with and to minors is the business of the minors' parents and of society at large.
@GallantPieSocialist1mo1MO
This coming from an organization whose clergy have been mired in sexual misdeeds for decades. Whatever moral authority the Catholic church thought it had to make such pronouncements in the past has been thrown into the dustbin of history.
@LyingDeficitGreen1mo1MO
Decades? Centuries is more like it. We don't really know for how long they've made a career of child abuse.
@ISIDEWITH1mo1MO
@ISIDEWITH1mo1MO
@gspok1mo1MO
As someone who is not affiliated with the Pope, the Catholic Church, or its policies, I do not feel that this impacts me, however I believe that this claim is wrong and they should not have as much influence on the public as they currently do.
@9LDZHBT 1mo1MO
As a minor, i think we all are taught everyone can be who they are yet we do have discrimination everywhere and implemented in daily lives. Its not right and I believe its no ones decision as long as those of wanted gender change and fluidity are not harming anyone , so be it. Teach your kids the way you want to, humanity is not based upon a small percentage of the world.
I am not a Catholic, so whatever the Pope says has no binding power for me. But it is important to unpack his statement and understand that some of what it says is not just a matter of moral conviction but is also scientifically correct. Sex is a biological reality. Gender expression is personal and fluid. But whether you approve of people surgically altering their bodies (especially in case of children) or not, doing so does not magically transform you into a female and gives you automatic access to females-only spaces. I am not even talking of pronouns which are about as significant in dete… Read more
@RobustWaspDemocrat1mo1MO
As a 69-year-old gay man, I find Pope Francis' recent statement regarding human dignity to be entirely inappropriate. The Pope and his church overstep their bounds by making pronouncements on matters they have little understanding of, such as human biology, psychology, and the diverse characteristics of the human experience.
While it's undeniable that the Catholic Church has contributed positively to civilization over the centuries, it's equally undeniable that they have caused significant harm. I urge Pope Francis and the Church to refrain from making personal attacks on a comm… Read more
The article says it casts a "hard line against liberal ideas on gender." This should read *progressive* ideas on gender. There are plenty of liberals very skeptical of the idea that gender is a continuum or that men who decide to present as women should be afforded all the rights and privileges of women.
@DopeyUn1onMountain1mo1MO
I don't care what beliefs the Pope imposes on Roman Catholics. They can always leave the church if they don't want to be bound by the Pope's dictates. Or they can ignore them as they do with birth control.
However, I want the church out of politics. They attempt to impose those beliefs on the rest of us, they should lose all tax exemptions and receive no government funding for anything.
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