I READ in the UK magazine The Tablet that Pope Francis was the first pope to use the word “gay” in its modern sense and now he has become the first to talk openly about transgender issues, using the phrase “he who was she but is he”.
But discussing transgender issues doesn’t mean he is finding it an easy issue to tackle. He calls gender theory – that sees gender as a social construct – a threat to marriage, that is part of “a global war out to destroy marriage… not with weapons, but with ideas”.
It seems to soften his stance, explaining that those struggling with whether they are male or female should never be turned away from the Church, but should be “accompanied” and “integrated” into parish communities.
The Pope refuses to simply condemn what some feel is a confusing new development, instead putting individual people at the center while maintaining the teaching of “male and female He created them.”
Some time ago, he met with a Spanish transgender man and the man’s wife in the Vatican. He said this person “suffered much because she felt like a young man,” although physically had been a woman (this was before undergoing gender reassignment surgery). “Life is life and things must be taken as they come”, the Pope added.
Where Francis draws a line is when children are taught that concepts of male and female are merely social constructs which can be changed. And he is certainly not about to change any teaching on gender or that marriage is between one man and one woman.
What he is asking from the Church is to stop throwing stones, to listen, and to “be careful not to say that everything is the same”.
While the Pope is trying to stay ahead of the curve on transgender matters, an issue the Church is still playing catch-up on is women. But there are signs in Rome that things are moving into first gear. Some time ago, the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog spent three days listening to female theologians discuss the roles women have played in the Church through history and what they might do in the future.
One theology professor looked at the “feminine vocation” starting from the idea of the priesthood of all the baptized and in the sacrament of marriage. However, the Church seems to want to keep a tight control on the discussions. The professor said that those taking part in the event were obliged: not to talk about their discussions for the moment although the papers will be published later.
One thing the Vatican is hypersensitive about is any discussion on women priests, an issue it wants to keep locked in the deep freeze.
Nevertheless, the invisibility of women from official leadership in the Church is a problem, not least because women make up the majority of regular Mass-goers and are often the foot soldiers in parishes. Or as the Pope, quoting St. Therese of Lisieux, put it: “They love God in much larger numbers than men do”.
Meanwhile, reformers will have their eyes on the papal commission set up to look at female deacons, while Francis has achieved some visibility for women by appointing the first female deputy director of the Vatican Press Office.
Small shifts, yes, but the direction of travel is clear.
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