The Vatican reaffirmed this Monday (8) its opposition to sex changes, gender theory and surrogacy, as well as abortion and euthanasia, four months after supporting blessings for same-sex couples.
The Vatican's doctrinal office (DDF) released the note “Dignitas infinite” (Infinite Dignity) after strong conservative resistance, especially in Africa, against its document on LGBT issues.
There is no suggestion that the new text, which describes what the Church perceives as threats to human dignity, was prepared in direct response to discussions about same-sex blessings, as it has been five years in the making. But it underwent extensive revisions during that period.
Pope Francis approved it after asking it to also mention “poverty, the situation of immigrants, violence against women, human trafficking, war and other issues,” said DDF head Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández in a statement. an announcement.
The note says that surrogate motherhood violates the dignity of both the surrogate mother and the child, and recalls that Francis, in January, called it “despicable” and called for a global ban.
Regarding gender theory, the note states that “desiring personal self-determination, as gender theory prescribes, in addition to this fundamental truth that human life is a gift, amounts to a concession to the ancient temptation of becoming God, entering into competition with the true God of love revealed to us in the Gospel.”
Gender theory, often called gender ideology by its critics, suggests that gender is more complex and fluid than the binary categories of man and woman, and depends on more than visible sexual characteristics.
Regarding gender changes, the note says that “any sex change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity that the person has received since the moment of conception”.
The text recognizes that some people may undergo surgery to resolve “genital abnormalities”, but emphasized that “such a medical procedure would not constitute a sex change in the sense intended here”.
At the same time, the text also denounces as contrary to human dignity the fact that “in some places, many people are arrested, tortured and even deprived of the good of life solely because of their sexual orientation”.
Elsewhere, the note reiterated the Vatican's permanent condemnation of abortion, euthanasia and the death penalty, citing Francis, his predecessors Benedict XVI and John Paul II and previous Vatican documents.
Source: CNN Brasil
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