US Catholic bishops vote to officially prohibit gender transition treatment at Catholic hospitals

U S Catholic bishops voted on Wednesday to officially declare a ban on gender transition remedy for transgender patients at Catholic hospitals The bishops gathered in a Baltimore hotel ballroom overwhelmingly approved revisions to their directives for the thousands of Catholic fitness care institutions and providers in the country formalizing a yearslong process for the U S church to address transgender healing options Bishops will have autonomy in putting the new directives into law for their dioceses More than one in seven patients in the U S are treated each day at Catholic hospitals according to the Catholic Vitality Association In several areas Catholic hospitals are the only curative centers available APPEALS COURT ALLOWS ARKANSAS' FIRST-IN-THE-NATION BAN ON GENDER TRANSITION CARE FOR MINORS TO BE ENFORCEDMost Catholic strength care institutions have not offered gender transition cure including hormonal psychological and surgical treatments With regard to the gender ideology I think it s very key the church makes a strong message here Bishop Robert Barron of Minnesota s Winona-Rochester diocese explained during the society discussion of the revised directives The Catholic Soundness Association thanked the bishops for incorporating much of its feedback into the new directives Catholic providers will continue to welcome those who seek curative care from us and identify as transgender the organization mentioned in a declaration We will continue to treat these individuals with dignity and respect which is consistent with Catholic social teaching and our moral obligation to serve everyone particularly those who are marginalized The new directives incorporate earlier documents on gender identity from the Vatican last year and the U S bishops the year before In the doctrinal note titled Moral Limits to the Technological Manipulation of the Human Body the bishops stated that Catholic fitness care services must not perform interventions whether surgical or chemical that aim to transform the sexual characteristics of a human body into those of the opposite sex or take part in the improvement of such procedures But specific parishes and priests welcome transgender Catholics while others are less accepting SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE IF FAITH-BASED COUNSELING ON GENDER IDENTITY IS PROTECTED SPEECH Catholic teaching upholds the invaluable dignity of every human life and for countless trans people gender-affirming care is what makes life livable announced Michael Sennett a transgender man who is functioning in his Massachusetts parish and serves on the board of New Solutions Ministry which advocates for LGBTQ inclusion in the Catholic Church New Solutions Ministry arranged a meeting last year with the late Pope Francis to discuss gender transition cure The group's executive director Francis DeBernardo stated that for multiple transgender Catholics he has spoken to the transition process was not just a biological necessity but a spiritual imperative adding That if they were going to be living as authentic people in the way that they believe God made them then transition becomes a necessary thing Also on Wednesday as U S Catholic bishops were discussing gender identity the heads of several progressive religious denominations issued a comment in sponsorship of transgender people During a time when our country is placing their lives under increasingly serious threat there is a disgraceful misconception that all people of faith do not affirm the full spectrum of gender a great countless of us do Let it be known instead that our beloveds are created in the image of God Holy and whole reads the comment from the signers including the heads of the Unitarian Universalist Association the Episcopal Church the Union for Transformation Judaism and the Presbyterian Church U S A In addition to the Catholic bishops' discussion on gender identity they overwhelmingly approved a special message condemning the Trump administration's immigration agenda Catholic leaders have criticized the president's mass deportation agenda as fear of immigration raids has slashed Mass attendance at particular parishes The federal regime earlier this year reversed a Biden administration directive for immigration agents not to carry out enforcement operations at sensitive areas such as churches and hospitals We are disturbed when we see among our people a atmosphere of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement the bishops message on Wednesday reads We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care Several bishops also stood up to speak in favor of the announcement during the final afternoon discussion Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich even recommended stronger language around mass deportation and his fellow bishops agreed That seems to be the central issue we are facing with our people at this time he reported The updated text now affirms that U S Catholic bishops oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people The Associated Press contributed to this account