Transgender believers can be baptized in the Catholic Church if it would not cause scandal or "confusion", the Vatican said today, clarifying a sensitive area of its doctrine.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the body in charge of promulgating and defending matters of the Catholic faith, also did not object to the baptism of children of same-sex couples, adopted or born through surrogacy.
Those views are expressed in a document that answers the questions of the Brazilian bishop, written on October 31, but which has only now been published.
This was approved by Pope Francis, who has repeatedly said that the Church should be open to everyone, including LGBTQ believers.
Francis made it clear that he considers homosexuality "a sin, like any extramarital sexual act".
Catholic teaching defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman for the purpose of having children.
The Dicastery states in the document that transgender believers "can receive baptism, under the same conditions as other believers, if there is no situation in which there is a risk of creating a public scandal or uncertainty among the faithful."
This applies to someone who has undergone hormone therapy and/or gender reassignment surgery, the document states.
In response to the question of whether a same-sex couple can be considered the parents of a child who must be baptized, the dicastery stated that there must only be a "well-founded hope" that the child will be raised in the Catholic faith.
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