Pope Francis Says Transgender Surgery Defies God

The Vatican has declared that transgender people who undergo surgery to change their bodies are violating God's plan for human life.

On Monday, the Vatican's doctrine office issued "Infinite Dignity," a 20-page declaration that has been in the works for five years. It was approved on March 25 by Pope Francis, who ordered its publication this week. The document states that God created man and woman as biologically different beings, and that people should not try to alter that plan or "make oneself God."

The report comes amid an increasingly bitter social debate about the rights of transgender people, particularly relating to trans women's inclusion in female sports and women-only spaces.

Companies and brands who have advocated for the LGBTQ+ community have been hit by a backlash, such as beer brand Bud Light which was engulfed in a social media firestorm in 2023.

The Catholic church has seen similar divisions play out within its ranks. Former American Bishop Joseph Strickland, who said marriage should only be between a man and a woman and that it is wrong for someone to try to change their God-given gender, was fired by the Pope, who has tried to make the church more welcoming to LGBTQ+ believers.

But this week's doctrine document appears to take a firmer stance.

The Catholic church does not believe that someone's sex can be changed and the declaration puts transgender surgery in the same category as abortion and euthanasia as practices that reject God's plan. The report describes trans-surgery as violating the human dignity gifted by God and as attempting to play God on the surgeon's table during "sex-change intervention."

An exception was made for surgery to correct "genital abnormalities" that can be "resolved" with the help of healthcare professionals, it said.

Newsweek has emailed the Vatican seeking further information and comment. In particular, Newsweek asked officials how they would respond to transgender Catholics who may no longer feel welcome in the church, and whether the church believes that they have actually sinned by altering their bodies surgically.

LGBTQ+ Catholic groups have slammed the document as archaic and argued it flies in the face of recognizing the "infinite dignity" of all of God's children. They also warned it could fuel anti-trans violence and discrimination.

"While it lays out a wonderful rationale for why each human being, regardless of condition in life, must be respected, honored, and loved, it does not apply this principle to gender-diverse people," said Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, which advocates for LGBTQ+ Catholics. The ministry posted its full statement on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.

In some respects, the document laid out a more liberal approach in other areas. For example, it stated being homosexual "is not a crime" and criticized countries that treat it as such, saying it was "contrary to human dignity." Other threats to human dignity targeted by the church were poverty, war, human trafficking, and forced migration.

But transgender surgeries were not the only medical interventions criticized by the church.

A newly articulated position took a harder line in terms of surrogacy too. The Vatican said each child "has the right to have a fully human (and not artificially induced) origin and to receive the gift of a life that manifests both the dignity of the giver and that of the receiver. Considering this, the legitimate desire to have a child cannot be transformed into a 'right to a child' that fails to respect the dignity of that child as the recipient of the gift of life."