Transgender people can now be baptized. The Vatican announced this on Wednesday, Italian media report. The Catholic Church does attach conditions to this permission. For example, transgender people and children of LGBTI couples may be baptized provided they do not cause “scandal or confusion.”
Last month, a Brazilian bishop raised several questions internally about the possible participation of believers from the LGBTI community in the holy sacraments. The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the oldest papal department that monitors the “purity of Catholic teaching on faith and morals,” then drew up a document with answers. In it, the body made it clear that transgender people will be baptized tomorrow if “there is no risk of causing a public scandal or disorientation among the faithful.” The same applies to children of LGBTI couples.
The document was drawn up on October 31, but only made public yesterday. It has now been signed by Pope Francis. Although he has repeatedly stated in the past that the Vatican should be open to everyone, including LGBTI+ believers, the Pope has always emphasized that he considers homosexuality “a sin.”