This Monday, the Pope received Vatican to a group of Catholics who define themselves as transgender and non-binary for 90 minutes, during a hearing in which – according to the organizers themselves – they asked that the Church “leave behind the negative approach” towards people with gender diversity.
This is what he clearly stated on his website. Ministry of New Waysa Catholic organization that helps the community LGBTQ+ in the United States, founded in 1977 by the nun Jeannine Gramick, who promoted the meeting.
The meeting, which the Vatican did not report, is the second in less than a year – the first took place on October 17, 2023 – and also served to “encourage Church leaders to listen more attentively LGBTQ+ life and faith. people”, according to this organization.
Several of the meeting participants shared their stories with the Pope. Among them, Nicole Santamariaan intersex woman from El Salvador who emigrated to the United States following death threats; Michael Sennett, a transgender man and theology graduate student who has been involved in church ministry for many years; Deacon Raymond and his wife Laurie Dever, parents of a transgender daughter, whose difficult transition led to a suicide attempt.
Also present at the meeting was a doctor specializing in endocrinology and co-director of a medical clinic specializing in sex reassignment interventions, Cynthia Herrick.
Gramick organized the meeting on the occasion of the publication in April of “Dignitas Infinita,” a document approved by the Pope in which the prefect of the dicastery, the Argentine theologian and cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, proposes a sort of updating of the social doctrine. of the Church and identifies a series of threats to human dignityincluding poverty, the death penalty, war, assisted dying, abortion, sexual abuse, sex change operations and the abuse of women.
The American nun, according to the note published by Ministry of New WaysI wanted Francisco to hear the story of these people directly who identify as transgender and non-binary Catholics. He did the same with a group of American Catholic bishops, in 2023 and 2024, so they could learn their history for themselves.
“I thank Pope Francis for being willing to listen to the experiences of transgender people and people,” Sister Gramick said. “Only by listening to the stories of these people, as well as those who care for and worry about them, can the Church fully hear the voice of the Holy Spirit calling the community Catholic to break with ancient teachings and practical errors,” added.
