Transsexuals may be baptized, “like the rest of the faithful.” This has been made very clear by the Vatican, in the words of the new prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith, Víctor Manuel Fernández, in a response to a Brazilian bishop who expressed doubts about the participation in baptisms and weddings of transsexual and homosexual people.
According to the old Holy Office, the baptism of a transsexual, “who has also undergone hormonal treatment or sex reassignment surgery,” can be carried out unless there are “situations in which there is a risk of generating public scandal or disorientation.” in the faithful.” It also establishes that children or adolescents “with problems of a transsexual nature,” if they are “well prepared and willing,” can receive this sacrament.
The Doctrine of Faith document justifies its response by citing Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Augustine, and also remembers that Pope Francis has stressed that the Church “is not a customs house, but a paternal house where there is room for everyone.”
The bishop also asks if a transsexual can be a godfather or godmother at a baptism, to which Fernández responds that he can do so, as long as "there is no danger of scandal, improper legitimation or disorientation in the educational sphere of the community." ecclesiastical.” The prefect also endorses that they be wedding witnesses, since “there is nothing in the current universal canonical legislation” that prohibits it.
Asked if two homosexuals can appear as parents of a child baptized, adopted or born through surrogacy, he indicates that "there must be a well-founded hope that he will be educated in the Catholic religion."
