GENDER IDEOLOGY: THE CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE | KAIROS GLOBAL | JUNE 2024

Author: Babu John

Intro: Digging into the wisdom of the popes, Babu John emphasises the Church’s teaching on biological sex and gender.

Gender ideology has gained acceptance in our culture over the past decade. This ideology asserts that a person's biological sex and personal identity may not necessarily be interconnected. As a result, ‘human identity’ is considered a matter of personal choice. This has led to an increase in people claiming gender identities that differ from their biological sex. Such claims have already caused disruptions in legal, social, and medical systems. I want to bring your attention to the teachings of the Church fathers regarding gender ideology.

Culture of Life vs Culture of Death

St John Paul II critiqued secular culture's reduction of the human body and sexuality to mere biological terms, emphasising their theological dimensions instead. In the theology of the body, he taught that sexual differences tell a divine story and underscored the theological concept of ‘complementarity,’ where men and women are designed to uniquely complement each other, reflecting different aspects of the divine and contributing to human wholeness. He expressed concerns about the modern gender ideology that minimises biological sex differences while emphasising cultural constructs of gender, which he saw as undermining the natural family structure and promoting moral relativism.

St John Paul II often spoke against moral relativism, linking it to societal and moral chaos in his writings such as Veritatis Splendor and Evangelium Vitae. He advocated for a ‘culture of life’ to counter the prevailing ‘culture of death,’ which he believed was exacerbated by these ideological shifts. His teachings strive to maintain a balance between understanding human sexuality and identity within a framework that respects both biological and theological truths, aiming to preserve the integrity of the family and societal values.

A Threat to Families

Pope Benedict XVI expressed his concerns about gender theory in various speeches and documents, arguing that the idea of gender as a purely social construct separate from biological sex leads to confusion about human nature and poses a threat to the foundation of the family.

In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI spoke to the Pontifical Council for the Family about the challenges posed by contemporary views on sexuality, including the legal recognition of unions other than traditional marriage. He underscored the importance of biological sex in defining identities and warned against ideologies that deny the differences and complementarity between men and women. His teachings reflect his commitment to upholding the traditional views on human sexuality and the family, which he believed were crucial for the well-being of individuals and society.

Pope Benedict spoke to the Roman Curia on December 21, 2012, about 'gender ideology.' He argued that it ignores the essential aspect of God's creation of male and female duality in human nature. The idea of gender as a social construct is false and calls into question the family unit based on this duality.

Ideological Colonisation

Pope Francis, continuing the concerns of his predecessors, has frequently addressed the issue of gender theory, particularly its disconnection from biological sex. In his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), he dedicates a section to caution against what he terms ‘ideological colonization’ through gender theory, emphasizing the role of the family in education and the need for schools to respect this without imposing specific ideologies.

Pope Francis has voiced the need for dialogue and understanding while maintaining the Church's stance on biological sex and gender. He views the promotion of gender subjectivity through international aid and educational policies as a dangerous form of ideological colonisation that confuses and misguides. In various statements, including a 2019 address to the Pontifical Academy for Life, he highlighted the dangers of believing in absolute control over our bodies, reflecting an individualistic and utilitarian perspective that he considers strips dignity and overlooks the relational nature of human beings.

In response to these concerns, the Congregation for Catholic Education published Male and Female He Created Them: A Pathway for Dialogue on Gender Theory in Education in June 2019. This document aims to provide Catholic educational institutions with guidance on navigating the complexities of gender theory. It advocates for an educational approach that respects students' biological and psychological nature, promoting a binary, complementary view of gender. It fosters a 'No' to the gender ideology and a 'Yes' to dialogue and empathetic listening to understand different human conditions, underlining the necessity of respectful and understanding dialogues in addressing gender issues.

Moreover, Pope Francis stresses the family's primary role in educating children, particularly regarding sexual morality. He urges schools to support and respect family involvement, aligning with his broader vision of nurturing respectful and understanding dialogues within educational settings to address gender issues carefully and sensitively.

On 10 March 2024, Pope Francis expressed his disapproval of transgender ideology in an interview. He spoke out against gender theory and referred to it as one of the most dangerous ideological colonisation of today. In his conversation, the Pope stated that humanity is made up of the tension of differences and that growing through these differences is essential. He added that the question of gender dilutes the differences, making the world the same and that this goes against the human vocation. He warned that this is extremely dangerous because it eliminates differences, erases humanity, and eliminates the richness of humanity, both personally, culturally, and socially, including diversities and tensions between differences.

No Multiple Genders

According to the Catholic Church, there are no multiple genders or fluid, changeable, or self-determined genders. As the Church holds, one is either male or female at birth; this also applies to hermaphrodites who, although they present both male and female anatomical features at birth, are either biological girls or boys. However, the Church admits that many men and women suffer from deep-seated gender identity crises. 

‘They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfil God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.’¹ People should be encouraged to discover their true identities as children of God, not to reject their undeniable biological identities. ‘Everyone, man, and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity. Physical, moral, and spiritual differences and complementarity are oriented toward the goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life. The harmony of the couple and society depends in part on the way in which the complementarity, needs, and mutual support between the sexes are lived out.’²

Authentic Accompaniment and Care

It is essential to take special care when interacting with children who are experiencing a gender identity crisis. Authentic accompaniment means remaining steadfast in the truth of the human person while empathetically guiding children to that truth. When discussing such sensitive topics with a child, parents should always be present and involved immediately.  Church pastoral care extends primarily to parents whose children suffer from gender dysphoria or experiencing distress over their gender identity.  Parents are encouraged to seek pastoral support in their parish or diocese and to find strength and wisdom through the sacraments of Communion and confession.

Our role as catechists, parents, and teachers is often helpless and unequipped to rectify the distorted and erroneous perceptions of bodies and sexuality.  We must be clear about gender, sexuality, and truth in a world of opinion. It takes passion and competence to answer the next generation's questions in a loving, intelligent, and God-honouring way. If we don't understand the ‘Whats and Whys,’ we will be tempted to remain silent. We can expose our children to enormous risks if we do not provide them with solid foundations.

Redemption of the Body

Christ came to redeem our bodies. We can reclaim our liberation with Christ. As St Paul explains, we hope for the redemption of our bodies. According to St John Paul, in a sense, this hope was implanted in man's heart after the first sin. We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we await...the redemption of our body (Romans 8:23). In his Letter to the Romans, St Paul sees this redemption of the body as both an anthropological and a cosmic dimension. Creation was subjected to futility (Romans 8:20). All visible creation, all the universe, bears the effects of man's sin. The whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now (Romans 8:22). At the same time, the whole creation awaits with eager longing the revelation of the sons of God and nourishes the hope of also being freed from the slavery of corruption, to obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:19, 20-21).

References

¹ Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) ,no.2358

² Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) ,no.2333

Babu John is the President of TOB FOR LIFE and an internationally renowned speaker on the theology of the body.