Vatican Issues Warning Against Gender Theory and Sex-Change Surgery in New Document

Published: 08 April 2024 at 11:11

Politics

The Vatican, with approval from Pope Francis, has released a document titled Dignitas Inifinita (Infinite Dignity) that warns against gender theory and the risks associated with sex-change surgery, stating that it threatens the unique dignity of a person. The declaration addresses threats to human dignity like poverty, the death penalty, war, abortion, and the abuse of women, emphasizing the equal dignity of all individuals. It strongly reiterates the pope's stance on defending unborn life and condemns practices like surrogacy for violating the dignity of both the child and the woman involved.

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Vatican to Publish Document on Gender Theory and Surrogacy in Response to Opposition

The Vatican will release a document titled Infinite Dignity next week, addressing gender theory and surrogacy in response to conservative backlash against Pope Francis's support for same-sex unions. Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, close to Francis, will present the document on April 8. The new declaration aims to critique societal immoral tendencies, including surrogacy and gender theory, while Francis, known for reaching out to LGBTQ+ individuals, has denounced gender ideology and called for a global surrogacy ban. Western countries imposing values on the developing world are also criticized.

Campaign Against Surrogacy Led by Olivia Maurel Gains Momentum

Olivia Maurel, born through surrogacy, campaigns globally against the practice, meeting with Pope Francis in Rome and advocating for an international treaty through the Casablanca Declaration. Pro-surrogacy advocates in Italy protest proposed laws criminalizing the use of surrogates abroad, even where legal, during a flash-mob in Rome.

Pope Francis and LGBT topics (Wikipedia)

Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church since 2013, has marked a significantly more accommodative tone on LGBT topics than his predecessors. In July 2013, his televised "Who am I to judge?" statement was widely reported in the international press, becoming one of his most famous statements on LGBT people. In other public statements, Francis has emphasised the need to accept, welcome, and accompany LGBT people, including LGBT children, and has denounced laws criminalising homosexuality. While he has reiterated traditional Catholic teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman, he has supported same-sex civil unions as legal protections for same-sex couples. Under his pontificate, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has confirmed that transgender people can be baptised, and allowed the blessing of same-sex couples in the document Fiducia supplicans. Francis has privately met many LGBT people and activists. In 2013, Francis was named as Person of the Year by The Advocate, an American LGBT magazine.Relative to LGB topics, Francis has been less accomodative on transgender topics, describing gender theory and children's education on gender-affirming surgery as "ideological colonisation". In September 2015, Francis came under media scrutiny for meeting Kim Davis, a county clerk who was imprisoned for refusing to issue marriage licences for same-sex couples, and in August 2018, Francis was criticised for suggesting that gay children seek psychiatric treatment. Prior to his election as Pope Francis, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio led public opposition to the parliamentary bill on legalising same-sex marriage in Argentina, which was approved by the Argentine Senate on 15 July 2010. A letter he wrote in that campaign was criticised for using "medieval" and "obscurantist" language, and was later admitted by an episcopal source to be a strategic error that contributed to the bill's success.

Pope Francis Defrocks Belgian Bishop for Sexual Abuse

Pope Francis has defrocked Roger Vangheluwe, an 87-year-old Belgian bishop who admitted to sexually abusing his nephews, after serious new elements in the case emerged. The Vatican's decision to laicize Vangheluwe, a symbol of Catholic Church hypocrisy in handling abuse cases, came ahead of the pope's planned visit to Belgium. The Belgian bishops had long called for Vangheluwe's expulsion from the priesthood, and the scandal has sparked national outrage and prompted discussions on abuse within the church in Belgium.

Pope Francis Washes and Kisses Feet of 12 Women Inmates at Rome Prison

Pope Francis, aged 87 and facing mobility issues, washed and kissed the feet of 12 women inmates at Rebibbia prison in Rome during the Holy Thursday ritual. This act of service and humility, part of the Holy Week ceremonies, emphasizes Jesus' teachings of serving others. Francis has been including women and people of other faiths in this ritual since becoming pope in 2013. Despite recent health problems, Francis was energized during the visit, receiving gifts and regifting, and is set for a busy schedule leading up to Easter Sunday.

Theology of Pope Francis (Wikipedia)

Elected on 13 March 2013, Francis is the first member of the Society of Jesus to be appointed pope and the first non-European to hold the office since the 8th century. He described his papal name as pointing to what he wants to emulate in Saint Francis of Assisi: to have a poor church, for the poor, always going out to the margins, and to show concern for the natural environment. His papal motto Miserando atque eligendo ("by having mercy and by choosing") contains a central theme of his papacy, God's mercy, which has led to conflict with orthodox Catholics on issues such as reception of Communion by remarried Catholics. In addressing real life situations he often appeals directly to his experience, in continuity with his synodal way, which showed a renewed emphasis on listening and dialogue. He has placed greater emphasis on church synods and on widespread consultation and dialogue, uplifting the roles of laypersons and of women in the Catholic church and criticizing clericalism.Francis' concern for the poor is noted in his critiques of capitalism, his quite visible support of refugees and migrants, and his outreach to liberationist, anarchist, communist, socialist and liberal movements in Latin America that were under a cloud during the papacy of John Paul II. Francis has stated that he considers himself to be conservative.His apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium (Joy of the Gospel), released eight months after his election, has been described as programmatic, and "a core document of this pontificate", in his own words "pointing out new paths for the Church's journey for years to come". He has become known also for his "sharp and unscripted remarks".

Pope Francis (Wikipedia)

Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church, the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He is the first pope to be a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the first one from the Americas, the first one from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first one born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century papacy of the Syrian Pope Gregory III.Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked for a time as a bouncer and a janitor as a young man before training to be a chemist and working as a technician in a food science laboratory. After recovering from a severe illness of pneumonia and cysts, he was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina. The administrations of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner considered him to be a political rival.Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Throughout his public life, Francis has been noted for his humility, emphasis on God's mercy, international visibility as pope, concern for the poor, and commitment to interreligious dialogue. He is credited with having a less formal approach to the papacy than his predecessors, for instance choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than in the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace used by previous popes.Francis has made women full members of dicasteries in the Roman Curia. He maintains that the Catholic Church should be more sympathetic toward members of the LGBT community and has permitted the blessings of same-sex couples. Francis is a critic of unbridled capitalism, consumerism, and overdevelopment; he has made action on climate change a leading focus of his papacy. Widely interpreted as denouncing the death penalty as intrinsically evil, he has termed it "an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person", "inadmissible", and committed the Church to its abolition, saying that there can be "no going back from this position".In international diplomacy, Francis has criticized the rise of right-wing populism, called for the decriminalization of homosexuality, helped to restore full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, negotiated a deal with China to define how much influence the Communist Party has in appointing Chinese bishops, and has supported the cause of refugees during the European and Central American migrant crises, calling on the Western World to significantly increase immigration levels. In 2022, he apologized for the Church's role in the "cultural genocide" of the Canadian indigenous peoples. On 4 October 2023, Francis convened the beginnings of the Synod on Synodality, described as the culmination of his papacy and the most important event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council.

Pope Francis Appears in Better Health at Vatican Audience

Pope Francis, aged 87, walked into the Vatican audience hall with a cane for his weekly general audience, speaking clearly and renewing appeals for peace. He highlighted the friendship between two fathers, one Palestinian and the other Israeli, both having lost daughters in the Middle East conflict. Their story was featured in the novel 'Apeirogon' by Colum McCann. The Pope met with the fathers privately before the audience, emphasizing their witness amid war and loss.