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The Vatican has declared gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy as grave violations of human dignity in a new document backed by Pope Francis.
The 20-page Dignitas Infinita, or Infinite Dignity, published Monday by the Vatican's powerful doctrine department, is the culmination of five years of work.
It was released as the Catholic Church remains divided over a number of social issues and covers major themes of Francis's 11-year papacy, from war to ecology and social justice.
While the document reaffirms the church's long-standing opposition to abortion and euthanasia, the Vatican has also now rejected gender dogma, or the idea that one's sex can be changed. It states that God created man and woman as biologically distinct, separate beings and says that people should not tamper with that plan or try to “make themselves gods.”
It acknowledged the possibility of surgery to resolve “genital abnormalities” but stressed that “such a medical procedure would not cause sex change in the sense intended here”.
The declaration also said surrogate parenting violates the dignity of both the surrogate mother and the child and recalled that Francis had called it “abhorrent” in January and urged a global ban.
The Vatican also expressed its opposition to the criminalization of homosexuality, which still exists in many countries, especially in Africa.
It states, “The fact that, in some places, some people are imprisoned, tortured and even deprived of their lives simply because of their sexual orientation must be condemned as contrary to human dignity. are also deprived of their well-being.”
“We don't talk much about this violation of human rights, … and it is painful that some Catholics defend these unfair laws,” Victor Manuel Fernandez, head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said at a news conference. .
The document does not apply to 'gender variant people'
The pope has made outreach to LGBTQ people a hallmark of his papacy, ministering to trans Catholics and emphasizing that the Catholic Church must welcome all of God's children.
But he has also condemned gender theory as the greatest threat to humanity today, an “ugly ideology” that threatens to erase the God-given differences between man and woman. She has criticized the West's “ideological colonization”, particularly in the developing world, where development aid is sometimes based on the adoption of Western ideas about gender and reproductive health.
Advocates for LGBTQ Catholics called Monday's document outdated, harmful and contrary to the stated goal of recognizing the “infinite dignity” of all God's children.
They also warned that it could have real effects on trans people, leading to anti-trans violence and discrimination.
Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, who advocates, “While it makes a wonderful argument for why every human being, regardless of their status in life, should be respected, honored and loved, it does little for gender-diverse people. But this principle does not apply.” For LGBTQ Catholics, told the Associated Press news agency.
Transgender activists also called the document “hurtful” and devoid of the voices and experiences of actual trans people, particularly given its distinction between transgender people and intersex people.
“The suggestion that gender-affirming healthcare – which has saved the lives of many wonderful trans people and enabled them to live in harmony with their bodies, their communities and (God) – threatens the dignity of trans people “is not only harmful but dangerously ignorant,” Mara Klein, a non-binary, transgender activist who has participated in Germany's Church Reform Project, told The Associated Press.
“Given that, by contrast, surgical interventions on intersex people – which if performed without consent, especially on minors, to date cause extreme physical and psychological harm to many intersex people – are evaluated positively, This further exposes the underlying hypocrisy,” Klein notes.
“In addition to the growing hostility toward our communities, we are faced with a Church that does not listen and refuses to see the beauty of creation that can be found in our lives.”
Monday's announcement comes at a time of some backlash against transgender people, including in the United States, where Republican-led state legislatures are considering a new round of bills restricting medical care for transgender youth and, in some cases, adults .
Additionally, bills to control student pronouns, trans participation on sports teams and bathroom use in schools are also being considered, as well as ideas on how the issue should be handled in books and school curriculum. being done.