Pope Francis (Photo by palinchak via Bigstock)
Pope Francis met with a group of transgender and intersex Catholics and LGBTQ allies at the Vatican on Sunday.
During the meeting, participants shared their personal stories, urging the pope to support greater acceptance within the church and address its stance on gender-affirming care.
Sister Jeannine Gramick, one of the co-founders of New Ways Ministry, a U.S.-based Catholic organization advocating for LGBTQ people, arranged the meeting that took place at Casa Santa Marta, Francis’s residence in Vatican City.
The delegation that met with the pope included Nicole Santamaría, an intersex woman, Michael Sennett, a trans man, and Cynthia Herrick, a doctor who works in a gender medicine clinic. Over the course of more than an hour, they recounted to Francis their struggles with depression and suicide on their transition journey and emphasized the positive impact of gender-affirming care.
New Ways Ministry Executive Director Francis DeBernardo, who was present at the meeting, said Francis didn’t respond vocally so much, but, clutching his cross, looked “sincerely pained” as he listened to people describe their hardships and “nodded vigorously when they talked about how positive medical transition was for them.”
“He really thanked them. He was very grateful that he had this opportunity,” DeBernardo said.
The impetus for bringing the pope in direct conversation with trans and intersex people was the Vatican’s release of the “Dignitas Infinata” declaration in April. While the document emphasized the need for respect and dignity for all, it also condemned gender-affirming medical care, framing it as incompatible with human dignity.
Gramick, who had been corresponding with the pope and had met him with members of the New Ways Ministry last year, was disappointed by the declaration and proposed that he hear directly from trans and intersex Catholics about their experiences, to which he agreed.
“Part of the problem is that the Vatican documents had not consulted transgender, intersex people, or any of the medical professionals who work with them. So we were encouraging the pope to consult with people more and to view people’s stories,” DeBernardo said.
The participants in the meeting had previously shared their personal testimonies with a group of two dozen Catholic bishops in the U.S. earlier this year as part of New Ways Ministry’s efforts to educate church leaders about the experiences of LGBTQ people and to advocate for their full acceptance.
During the meeting, Gramick stressed to Francis that other Vatican officials must also listen to the voices of LGBTQ people. DeBernardo said the pope fully agreed with this suggestion.
DeBernardo believes that by accepting the invitation to meet the group and listening to the experiences of trans and intersex people, Francis was deliberately setting a precedent for other church leaders to engage more meaningfully with the LGBTQ community.
In its doctrine, the Catholic Church condemns any same-sex sexual relations and rejects same-sex marriage. However, under Francis, the church has generally adopted a more inclusive tone toward LGBTQ people. The Vatican last year reversed a 2015 absolute ban on trans people serving as godparents, and approved priests to bless same-sex couples — but not same-sex unions.
Two LGBTQ activists from Africa — Clare Byarugaba of Chapter Four Uganda and Rightify Ghana Director Ebenezer Peegah — met with Francis in August.
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