What Took So Long?

On April 2, 2024, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith finally spoke out on gender ideology and trans surgeries in its document Dignitas Infinita on Human Dignity. The Document was written by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández and signed off by Pope Francis.

As the title suggests, the central theme against such practices and others is an affront to human dignity. It has also been reported that the teaching was five years in the making. The document is only 20 pages long, meaning a 4-page output per year on a topic that is obviously at odds with natural law and not that complicated.   Unfortunately, many people have been led astray for five years, which inhibited the clergy from guiding the flock long before children’s hospitals routinely started mutilating children both chemically and surgically.    

The Vatican finally affirmed what Catholics and Christians knew all along. The faithful are aware of the charade of surgically altering the sex of a person, and the radical gender-affirming philosophy behind it is against the will of God and an insult to his creation. So, why did it take five years before they spoke authentically on the moral prohibition of directly defying God’s will for human beings?  

There may be many reasons the prohibition was finally made public. Still, one thing seems to be an ongoing problem for Pope Francis and his advisors, who are sympathetic to same-sex couples and unwilling to alienate them from the Church even when the Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly teaches homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and contrary to natural law. Nothing in the new document speaks out against homosexual behavior. Months prior, the Vatican extended an opportunity for those in same-sex relationships to be blessed.

In December 2023, Pope Francis made news when he permitted the clergy to bless same-sex unions. The text, Fiducia Supplicans, authored again by Cardinal Fernández, became part of Pope Francis’ legacy and a sure sign that he is the most pro-LGBTQ+ pope in history. However, the document was met with pushback, especially from the Bishops in Africa.

The recent teaching places gender ideology and trans surgeries in a basket of human problems that affect their dignity. By placing the question of the morality of gender ideology and trans surgeries under the umbrella of human dignity, Fernández was free to mention other things that harm human dignity, like poverty, war, migrants, human trafficking, sexual abuse, and violence against women. Surprisingly, there was no such mention of homosexuality.

Most things Fernández mentions, along with the gender issues, are evil and sinful and are directly against the dignity of the human person. The same holds with gender ideology and the trans movement, but advocating the changing of one’s sex is meant to reject altogether God as the creator and sustainer of life. That is far different than a lapse of moral judgment. By attempting to eliminate the created sexual character of a person, the movement implies an absolute disengagement with God. Unfortunately, the document does not emphasize and denounce the ‘new paganism’ behind such thought and practice.

Although this is a step in the right direction, the Church must undoubtedly teach the evils lurking behind the same-sex revolution. Not only is it paganistic, but it is nihilistic and completely rejects the hope of life promised by the Resurrection.

Thank God the Vatican finally dared to speak out against the horrors of gender ideology and the lunacy of trans surgeries and practices. Hopefully, it will not be too late.