Vatican denounces sex change surgery, gender theory and surrogacy as ‘grave’ threats to human dignity

Issuing a stern warning against ‘gender theory’, the Vatican on Monday declared sex-change surgery and surrogacy as grave threats to human dignity, according to a new document that has been approved and signed off by Pope Francis on March 25.

The Vatican document titled “Dignitas Inifinita”, which means infinite dignity, declares that any efforts to hide “the sexual difference between man and woman” should be dismissed.(AP)

The document titled “Dignitas Inifinita”, which means infinite dignity, declares that any efforts to hide “the sexual difference between man and woman” should be dismissed.

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Refuting the notion that an individual’s gender can be altered, the document stated that God made man and woman to be physiologically distinct and that they should not change that plan or attempt to “make oneself God.”

“It follows that any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception,” the document said.

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What did the Vatican says on surrogacy and abortion?

On abortion, the document essentially restates Catholic teachings on these subjects, stressing that every person is entitled to the same dignity regardless of their circumstances. The pontiff’s previous statements that the “defense of unborn life is closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right” are firmly reiterated in this regard.

In addition, the text discusses surrogacy, claiming that it “violates” the woman’s and the child’s dignity by turning them into “means subservient to the arbitrary gain or desire of others.” Recently, Pope Francis advocated for the outlawing of surrogacy.

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It claims that sexual difference is “the most beautiful and most powerful” thing to differentiate between living beings, but gender theory “intends to deny that difference.” The document asserts that medical intervention is allowed for those with “genital abnormalities”, but insists that sex change surgery should be avoided since “the body serves as the living context in which the interiority of the soul unfolds and manifests itself”.

Dismissing the gender theory, the text also blasts countries like Africa that prohibit homosexuality, confirming Francis’ claim that “being homosexual is not a crime”.

The Congregation for Catholic Education rejected the notion that humans may decide or alter their gender, which led to the Vatican issue its position on gender in 2019.

The publication of the document coincides with ongoing pushback against transgender people, including in the US, where state legislatures led by GOPs are planning to bring a new legislation that would ban medical care for transgender youth and even for adults in certain situations.