New Vatican document on gender, explained and critiqued

Yesterday the Congregation for Catholic Education, a dicastery of the Roman curia, released a little document that is generating much controversy. It is on the hot-button topic of gender and transgenderism, entitled "Male and Female He Created Them" (Gen 1:27c). Let's take a look.

What's the bottom line?
The bottom-line, main statement of the document is a re-affirmation of the fundamental Catholic understanding of sexuality, namely that God made the human race into male and female genders as a "constitutive" part of humanity's essential nature (Gen 1:27). The reason is so that a man and woman can come together in marriage, a relationship aimed at both the loving communion of the spouses with each other (and with God) and procreation. The two genders thus complement each other. This aspect of the document should not surprise anyone familiar with the Catholic understanding of sexuality. It's very old news.

Correlatively, the document rejects the idea that there could be a "third gender," "neuter gender," or "gender spectrum." It also rejects the notion that a person's gender is separable from their biological, chromosomal sex or that a person could change their gender to the opposite of their biological sex. All of these rejected ideas are treated under the phrase, often used by Pope Francis, "gender theory."

The document understands gender to be distinct from, yet closely connected to, biological sex:

Sex is seen as defining which of the two biological categories (deriving from the original feminine-masculine dyad) one belonged to. Gender, on the other hand, would be the way in which the differences between the sexes are lived in each culture. The problem here does not lie in the distinction between the two terms, which can be interpreted correctly, but in the separation of sex from gender. (11, emphasis in original)

In other words, your biological sex is a fact of your genetic nature, determined by your chromosomes. Your gender, however, is culturally-determined. Masculinity and femininity are not absolute, static, timeless ideals. Rather, they are bundles of behaviors and traits that vary from time to time and culture to culture. What one culture considers "masculine" behavior, another culture (or the same culture in another time) may consider "feminine." Nevertheless, according to the document, one's gender and sex should always match. A biological male should not adopt a female gender or vice-versa. And the notions of in-between genders (spectrum) or no-gender or third gender are rejected as outside the traditional Catholic understanding of sexuality.

Pope Francis has said the same thing on multiple occasions, perhaps most significantly in his magisterial letter on love Amoris Laetitia:

Yet another challenge is posed by the various forms of an ideology of gender that denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman and envisages a society without sexual differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis of the family. This ideology leads to educational programmes and legislative enactments that promote a personal identity and emotional intimacy radically separated from the biological difference between male and female. Consequently, human identity becomes the choice of the individual, one which can also change over time. It is a source of concern that some ideologies of this sort, which seek to respond to what are at times understandable aspirations, manage to assert themselves as absolute and unquestionable, even dictating how children should be raised. It needs to be emphasized that biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender) can be distinguished but not separated. (56)

So what about transgender people?
Here's why the document is generating controversy: it has a lot to say about "gender theory" and nothing to say about the lived experience of transgender people. Unfortunately, it seems to imply that they simply choose to change their gender as part of their ideological embrace of "gender theory" or even just to be "provocative" (25)! Here is how it defines transgenderism:

The concept of gender is seen as dependent upon the subjective mindset of each person, who can choose a gender not corresponding to his or her biological sex, and therefore with the way others see that person (transgenderism). (11)

This could be read as saying that a transgender person is someone who chooses (wrongfully) to identify with the gender opposite to their biological sex. This "choice" is based on a false ideology dubbed "gender theory." The problem with this description is transgender people do not think they made a choice to feel the way they do: they simply experience (often with anguish) the feeling of being a male or female born with a body of the opposite sex. They can't help feeling this way, and they experience resolution only by outwardly identifying with the gender that feels like what their brain is telling them. Catholic Church documents never frame homosexuality as a choice. It's always taken for granted (in the Catechism, for example, the first edition of which said explicitly "they do not choose it," 2358) that it's a particular tendency that a person has, not something they somehow elected to become at a particular moment. I do not understand why transgender people are being thought of differently. I thus agree with what Fr. James Martin (author of Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity) told the NYT:

The congregation’s call for listening and dialogue about gender is a positive step. However, it seems that the congregation is listening only to philosophers and theologians rather than to LGBT people who would share their real life experiences if asked. LGBT people are usually not responding to a theory or ideology but their own inner feelings and their own desires.

Further, I'm not sure how many transgender people even agree with the idea that gender is a spectrum! Some do, as do many cisgender (one-gender) people. But a lot of transgender people, far from rejecting the traditional dualism of male/female, hold to it strongly! Some trans people have been accused of reinforcing antiquated gender stereotypes in their self-descriptions. Two famous transgender men (Manning and Jenner) have made public statements that reinforce notions of women as more emotional and more vain than men (as documented in this critical NYT piece by a feminist author). They do not operate from the idea that male and female are whatever they want them to be. Rather, they take the dualism of gender for granted, which is precisely why they experience distress from feeling out of tune with their biological sex. The idea that trans people are merely acting out an ideological agenda is as hollow and hurtful as the claim that gay people seeking to secure legal rights are trying to promote a nefarious "gay agenda" in an efort to destroy families.

Pope Francis often says "facts are more important than ideas." It's a mantra of his. If we apply that to this situation, we will see that the Congregation would have produced a better-grounded, more honest document if they had spent some time on the facts of trans people's lives, and a little less time re-describing theoretical ideas about "gender fluidity" and a "neuter gender" or "third gender" with little to no bearing on transgender experience.

To that end, I notice that the new document, in the spirit of Pope Francis, explicitly calls for dialogue with scientific research about issues related to sex and gender (6). The experiences of transgender people are not unknown to physicians and psychiatrists; there is a medical diagnosis called "gender dysphoria" that describes people who experience anguish as a result of feeling that their biological sex does not match what they feel to be their true gender. The pope knows this, as he has mentioned "hormonal imbalance" when asked about transgender people (see below). I'm not an expert on this subject, but there are many articles on the internet (e.g.) about recent scientific research that may indicate that, from a very early age, a person can for some reason develop a gender identity in the brain divergent from one's biological sex. If this is so, then biological sex can't be equated simply with chromosomes the way this document does, since the brain is also an essential part of our physical identity. On the other hand, some researchers insist that male and female brains are virtually identical (e.g.). Perhaps the Congregation for Catholic Education should have taken its own advice and given consideration to this ongoing scientific research and an analysis of the facts, in case it turns out that chromosomes aren't the sole biologically-determinative factor in sexuality.

How should the Catholic Church treat transgender people?

By loving, accompanying, and welcoming them. Like Pope Francis, the Congregation for Catholic Education says that Catholic schools and teachers need to pastorally accompany students experiencing issues of gender identity and practice discernment (since not all situations are the same, as the pope frequently stresses).

The programmes dealing with formation in affectivity and sexuality offered by Catholic centres of education must take into consideration the age-group of the students being taught and treat each person with the maximum of respect. This can be achieved through a way of accompanying that is discrete and confidential, capable of reaching out to those who are experiencing complex and painful situations. Every school should therefore make sure it is an environment of trust, calmness and openness, particularly where there are cases that require time and careful discernment. (56)

This statement reflects what Pope Francis has said in Amoris Laetitia:

It is one thing to be understanding of human weakness and the complexities of life, and another to accept ideologies that attempt to sunder what are inseparable aspects of reality. (56)

We must, crucially, distinguish between the "ideology of gender" and the "complexities of life" people experience. What Francis means here is clarified by his answer to a direct question about a transgender person "who feels there's a biological problem, that his physical body doesn't correspond with what he or she considers to be their sexual identity." This was asked him on Oct. 2, 2016, on the papal plane, en route from Azerbaijan back to Rome. Here is part of what the pope said in response: "When a person who has this condition gets in front of Jesus, Jesus won't say, 'Leave beause you're homosexual'" (Ines San Martin, "Pope Says Walk with Trans Persons, but Fight Gender Theory," Crux, 10/2/16). He explained that the clergy must always accompany LGBT people, no matter what, even if they are engaged in "homosexual practices." He futher described a letter he received from a transgender man (the pope said: "He who was a she, but is a he"), and Francis said:

Life is life, things have to be accepted as they come. Sin is sin. Tendencies, hormonal imbalance, have and cause so many problems... We must be attentive. Not to say that it's all the same, but in each case, welcome, accompany, study, discern, and integrate. This is what Jesus would do today.

In other words, the pope stresses the difference between saying that the Church must reject "gender theory" and saying it should reject trans people. They are, like the rest of us, made in God's image. This is just like how Pope Francis has called on pastors to reintegrate the divorced and remarried into the Church, even allowing them the sacraments "in certain cases" (Amoris Laetitia 305, note 351), while still maintaining the indissolubility of sacramental marriage.

I am adraid that, by speaking so much about "gender theory" in the document and saying nothing about the lives of trans people, the document risks people missing this crucial distinction. I wish the paragraph about accompaniment had been put at the beginning of the text, not in the penultimate paragraph. I also hope that, in the near future, the pope will again say something or make a gesture to recall to all our minds the importance of accompanying and integrating transgender people into the Church. In January 2015, it was reported (and so far as I know never contradicted by the Vatican) that the pope met with and embraced a transgender man and even told him something like, "the Church loves you and accepts you as you are" (Thomas C. Fox, "Report: Pope Francis Meets with, Hugs Transgender Man," NCR, 1/30/15). Such a gesture or welcoming word would help prevent people from misreading this latest document as a ban against trans people!

Does it say anything else especially noteworthy?
Yes, it denounces the bullying of LGBT youths:

Another position held in common is the need to educate children and young people to respect every person in their particularity and difference, so that no one should suffer bullying, violence, insults or unjust discrimination based on their specific characteristics (such as special needs, race, religion, sexual tendencies, etc.)

Research shows that LGBT young people are twice as likely to be bullied (source) and almost five (!) times as likely to have attempted suicide, according to the CDC (source). This is therefore an important declaration. The Church is under the strictest moral obligation to minister to and help the vulnerable, among whom LGBT youth must certainly be included. Service and love are at the heart of the Gospel, as we know from the teachings of Christ. Catholic schools and teachers must not fail to accompany and integrate victims of anti-gay and anti-trans bullying. If they do, we will continue to see more and more young people leave the Church in disgust for its hypocrisy with respect to love of neighbor.

In addition, the Congregation apologizes for gender discrimination in the Church:

Indeed, it cannot be denied that through the centuries forms of unjust discrimination have been a sad fact of history and have also had an influence within the Church. This has brought a certain rigid status quo, delaying the necessary and progressive inculturation of the truth of Jesus’ proclamation of the equal dignity of men and women, and has provoked accusations of a sort of masculinist mentality, veiled to a greater or lesser degree by religious motives. (15)

This echoes the Catechism's declaration that gay people should not be discriminated against (2358). Just this spring Francis wrote in his recent post-synodal exhortation Christus Vivit:

A living Church can react by being attentive to the legitimate claims of those women who seek greater justice and equality. A living Church can look back on history and acknowledge a fair share of male authoritarianism, domination, various forms of enslavement, abuse and sexist violence. With this outlook, she can support the call to respect women’s rights, and offer convinced support for greater reciprocity between males and females, while not agreeing with everything some feminist groups propose. Along these lines, the Synod sought to renew the Church’s commitment “against all discrimination and violence on sexual grounds”. (42)

Is this document part of the papal magisterium? 
No, Vatican documents are only part of the pope's magisterium (teaching authority) if he approves them specifically, which he did not. The pope can delegate his jurisdictional authority to others who may act in his name, but he cannot delegate his teaching authority. Therefore, documents he does not specifically approve are not magisterial. (For more on this, see this post from Jimmy Akin about a different document.) It does however clearly reflect the view of Francis in the main, even if perhaps not in its exact wording, emphasis, and style. It remains an official document of the Congregation for Catholic Education, intended to advise Catholic schools and teachers. Parts of it could be cited or quoted in future magisterial documents, if the pope so desired.

It is the first Vatican document specifically about transgenderism. I hope it will be followed by another, perhaps penned by Francis himself, not so much about "gender theory," but about the lives of transgender people and how the Church can better walk with and welcome them in Christ and his Spirit. The pope has spoken about the importance of this, but many questions remain and further guidance is needed. Of course, Pope Francis's personal example of pastoral solicitude and compassion is worth more to many Catholics than any document!