Biden Ignoring the Church... Again

Our “devout Catholic” President has taken up another fight that places him at odds with the Catholic Church.  President Biden has taken to pushing, what can best called, a “transgender agenda”.  He has promoted this ideology as a major social issue.  However, the Church has some powerful statements on the controversy.

Pope Francis, considere a liberal thinker by many, stands squarely against transgenderism.  “I have always distinguished between what is pastoral [ministry] to persons who have different sexual orientations and that which is the ideology of gender. These are two different things,” Francis stated. “The ideology of gender is, at this time, one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations. It goes far beyond the sexual.” Because “it dilutes the differences,” he said. “The richness that is of men and women, and of all humanity, is the tension of the differences. It is to grow by means of the tension of the differences. The matter of gender is diluting the differences and making the world the same, all dull, all equal. And that goes against the human vocation.”

Pope Francis said he has spoken about this because “there are people who are rather naïve, that believe this is the path of progress, and do not distinguish between respect for sexual diversity or different sexual choices from an already existing anthropology of gender, which is extremely dangerous because it annuls the differences, and this erases the humanity, the richness of humanity, in a personal, cultural and social sense, the differences and the tensions between the differences.”

Another authority, The ethicists of The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), have joined the US bishops in unequivocally reiterating that Catholic anthropology and moral teaching are incompatible with medicalized mutilations that hide behind the misnomer of “gender-affirming care.” This guidance is contained in the Doctrinal Note on the Moral Limits to Technological Manipulation of the Human Body, released by US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine on March 20, 2023. 

The body-soul union and human sexual differentiation are principles of human anthropology, whose validity has been demonstrated time and again by medical science. By promoting incorrect gender identities, so-called transitioning interventions tear away from reality and reject the dignity of the body. They put patients on the road to heartache, leading to only apparent happiness with deeper suffering and, for many, a lifetime of destructive chemicals and surgeries.

Against this tidal wave of transgender activism, authentic care for people with gender dysphoria must be rooted in a proper understanding of the order within creation and an accurate application of Catholic ethical principles. When it comes to the truth of one’s identity, the bishops rightly emphasize the foundational grammar of being human and being sexed. Moreover, the principles of totality and integrity cannot be manipulated to make gender ideology consistent with this natural order. First, the altered organs are not pathological. Second, the modifications are not tolerated as a means of protecting the health of the whole body but are the desired result. Applauding the reasoning in the Doctrinal Note, NCBC President Joseph Meaney said, “It is very important for the Church to speak clearly on the transgender issue, where there is so much cultural confusion. . . Catholic health care must develop new models of promoting the authentic good of persons and provide a space in which clinicians can find ways to help patients without mutilating their bodies or undermining their well-being. In particular, children and adolescents need help to appreciate the good of their own bodies and protection from misguided advocates who are pushing radical medical interventions. In addition, by clearly stating Catholic teaching, the Doctrinal Note bolsters the religious liberty protections of those who are being coerced to violate their beliefs and prudential medical judgment. 

United States Catholic bishops have issued guidelines that seek to stop Catholic hospitals from providing gender transition care, a move LGBTQ advocates say could harm the physical and emotional health of transgender people within the church.

The 14-page doctrinal note, titled “Moral Limits to the Technological Manipulation of the Human Body,” sets forth guidelines for changing a person’s sex, specifically with youth. The document, issued Monday, says Catholic hospitals “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 development of such procedures.”

The bishops’ guidelines “will not change much” when it comes to caring for transgender patients at Catholic hospitals, said the Rev. Charlie Bouchard, CHA’s senior director of theology and sponsorship. Transgender people will continue to always be accepted in Catholic hospitals and treated with dignity and respect, but might not receive all of the gender-affirming care they request because of the church's theological and moral teachings, he said.

“As we look at the document from the bishops, what we are mindful of is that we have a history of caring for the marginalized, and we see transgender people very much as a marginalized group,” he said.

Catholic hospitals see transgender patients with a variety of health care needs from broken bones to cancer treatment and heart attacks, Bouchard said, adding that the hospitals would not perform cosmetic procedures such as reconstructive surgeries, hysterectomies, or treatments such as sterilizations on request, unless there is a medical need for them.

He said Catholic hospitals are also training staff to be respectful of transgender patients: “When a patient checks in, we ask staff to be respectful in how they ask questions. We want to affirm transgender individuals as persons and provide them with spiritual care and psychological counseling.”

Bouchard said Catholic hospitals will “base health care on science and continue to follow the science when it comes to transgender people.”

“But we don’t treat ideology,” he said. “We treat patients who are really suffering. There are things out there about gender fluidity that we do not agree with. But as Catholic hospitals, we are held to the same standard of care as other hospitals.”

Once more our President moves against the clear teachings of his Church.  Yet, he parades his so-called Catholicism as if it is a political implement.  His use and ignorance of our beloved faith must be stopped.  Contact the White House, it is easy to look up the address, and inundate him with emails to hold him accountable for his outrageous and insulting behavior.