The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement March 20 expressing “great concern” over current and proposed surgical and chemical treatments for gender dysphoria. The 14-page statement advised Catholic health care services to “employ all appropriate resources” to individuals experiencing gender confusion but not to “perform interventions, whether surgical or chemical, that aim to transform the sexual characteristics of the human body into those of the opposite sex or take part in the development of such procedures.”
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge said the bishops’ document will help Catholics explain church teaching on this topic to others.
“Our culture is struggling with issues that are fundamental to who we are as children of God, made in his image and likeness. Bishops and priests are working to help educate the faithful and equip them with tools to respond to some of these questions. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine has provided us with an exceptional tool for conveying the truth in love. I hope all those who wish to understand our philosophical and theological teachings as it relates to manipulation of the human body through technological and pharmaceutical tools would read this document in its entirety. It will assist you in addressing properly the questions others may ask you regarding this important issue,” Bishop Burbidge said.
Father Stephen Schultz, chaplain at St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly and minister for the Encourage apostolate, said the bishops’ statement will help Catholics to faithfully care for those who experience gender confusion. When encountering those who struggle with gender confusion, he said Catholics should not reduce these individuals to their struggles but should treat them as children of God and remind them of the goodness of their body.
“The problem with gender ideology is that it doesn’t bring about healing and wholeness,” Father Schultz said. “And that’s what we have to aim for: not a quick fix, but a healing of the whole person.”
In an uncertain world with many social pressures and stereotypes, Father Schultz believes that young people who experience gender confusion often desire certainty.
“Most of the young people who are experiencing gender dysphoria are suffering in many ways, and that suffering is not going to be alleviated just by them changing their name or putting on different clothes. That suffering that they’re enduring often requires a lot of help and support,” he said.
Bishop Burbidge previously issued “A Catechesis on the Human Person and Gender Ideology” in 2021. In the document, he urges the faithful to approach those who struggle with gender confusion with compassion while maintaining church teaching on the dignity of the human person.
