In the United States, the national conference of Catholic bishops rejects the concept of gender transition, leaving many transgender Catholics feeling excluded.
I think that's part of why he is being so careful with language, it's in line with him coming out to say homosexuality is not a crime earlier this year.
Hopefully this is just paving the way for further change but when the Church holds a lot of power in countries where lgbtq+ people are outlawed and heavily oppressed I can see why he's slowly introducing ideas like it's not against the law and being permissible to baptise.
I'm no fan of the RCC but if the pope quickly does a full 180 on these issues the church will likely fracture and the countries where things are pretty extreme will break away and, double down on the persecution and allow it to become an identity marker.
I think that's part of why he is being so careful with language, it's in line with him coming out to say homosexuality is not a crime earlier this year.
Hopefully this is just paving the way for further change but when the Church holds a lot of power in countries where lgbtq+ people are outlawed and heavily oppressed I can see why he's slowly introducing ideas like it's not against the law and being permissible to baptise.
I'm no fan of the RCC but if the pope quickly does a full 180 on these issues the church will likely fracture and the countries where things are pretty extreme will break away and, double down on the persecution and allow it to become an identity marker.