The Vatican said transgender people may be baptized as Catholics and can serve as godparents, in the latest sign of the church’s greater openness to LGBTQ people under Pope Francis.
The Vatican also said that the children of gay couples, including ones who are adopted or born to surrogate mothers, may be baptized, and that such couples may serve as godparents. …
Internal guidelines for bishops from 2000, when St. John Paul was pope, stated that people who undergo transition surgery aren’t eligible to marry in the church or be ordained to the priesthood on the grounds that their decision to transition reflects the presence of a mental disorder. The new document doesn’t revise that stance.
[The baptism issue isn’t nearly as problematic as the issue with gay couples becoming godparents. The Catholic Church requires godparents to be confirmed Catholics in good standing, which used to mean no cohabitation outside of marriage in any context. Was this really necessary for the evangelization of the Word? Or just for the vanity of the leaders of the Church? — Ed]
Read the full article here