How can the Catholic Church better teach Theological Anthropology to transgender and cisgender people?
The following is a transcript of a video presentation available at: https://youtu.be/uf9YS2vfqCE. I recently submitted this transcript to my university. Feedback from my assessor are in italics and brackets:
Usually when a human baby is born, the medical doctor present would pronounce the baby a boy or a girl, based on the apparent biology of the baby. It is increasingly said, however, that a human person’s gender identity may not necessarily match their biology, and that such a person would be referred to as transgender. Gender identity refers to a human person’s inner sense of being male, female, or neither (non-binary).[1]
This increasingly mainstream view of the human person[2] is Cartesian dualist, that is, it is a view that not only draws a distinction between the material body separate to the immaterial soul, but puts the soul at the front and centre of the human person’s identity.[3] This anthropology radically disconnects the body from the soul because gender identity, which does not match the biological sex of the body, is part and parcel of the soul.
However, this does not reflect the theological anthropology of the Catholic Church, which is deeply rooted in the Old Testament, reflecting the Hebrew belief that the human person is a unitary constitution of both body and soul.[4] Specifically, “God created mankind in His own image… male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). His own image ultimately refers to the good that He saw in His Creation (Genesis: 1:31), and “male and female” as a good would refer to the impossibility that a male body could be united with a female soul, for example.
Because of this, the human person is religious in nature due to being a creature of God, therefore, only by living out His ever-renewing covenant will the human person fully flourish.[5] Arguably, the first of a series of Biblical covenant He offered to the human person can be found in Genesis 1:29–30, which refers to plentiful and ongoing access to food for nourishment, as a natural consequence of Creation.
As a result, living out God’s covenant will create freedom for the human person, because the soul is driven by desire, which manifests in inclinations, but when these inclinations are synergised with the intellect, the soul can will the body to enter into communion with others, including God, to bring His covenant to fruition.[6] One of these types of communion is the union between man and woman that brings both into union with God, and this act can potentially breathe life into another human person.[7]
Therefore God, as Creator of His image and likeness that human persons possess, expects His children to be reproductive and therefore further the Earthly stewardship He expects of them (Genesis 1:28). Therefore, it behoves the human person to reciprocate this love He is showing by furthering the stewardship of what he has created, including their body.[8] Specifically, man and woman physically complement each other for reproductive purposes, and the act of complementing in such way further spreads the image and likeness of God via human birth, which keeps the obligatory stewardship cycle going.
To keep this going, the body and soul of a man, or of a woman, would by necessity have to be a unitary constitution, and therefore transgender Cartesian dualism cannot be reconciled with theological anthropology.[9] This is not based on the Old Testament alone, and is also a philosophical position, not just a theological one. In the New Testament, Paul the Apostle posited that the soul is not disembodied, and that the human person’s body is ultimately ensouled for resurrection (2 Corinthians 5:1–5).
St Thomas Aquinas demonstrated that the human person is a psychosomatic entity, since he or she is one and the same person, conscious of their sense and therefore understands the world around them from it. He elaborates that sensing requires a body, therefore the body and soul together cannot be separated into components, just as any unitary constitution cannot.[10] As alluded to earlier, the soul drives the body to live, because the soul is the substantial form of the living body.[11]
It therefore behoves the human person to respect this nature instead of constructing an alternate reality,[12] because if the human person acts upon certain transgender desires, this would undermine God’s Creation, and the stewardship expectations He has of His creatures. If the human person is indeed a psychosomatic unity, he or she does not have a choice as to whether they are male or female as an entity. That is, when the doctor makes the pronouncement at birth, they are just either born male or female, and this is immutable.[13]
In practice, if a man attempts to be a female entity (via transition), this course of action would at best, distract him, and at worse, prevent him, from entering into a reproductive union with a woman in order to fulfil his stewardship obligations towards God’s Creation. That is, it is impossible for a natural family to result from such actions, and if this man already has a family, his attempts would not be respectful towards the dignity of his family members, just as he is not being respectful of his dignity as a human person.
Pope Francis has previously reinforced this point by reaffirming that the socio-cultural role of sex, otherwise known as gender, and biological sex, can be distinguished from each other, but they are not separate aspects of the human person.[14] That is, the soul is not gendered, rather, gender is derived from the sexed body. If gender was a substance of, or accidental to, the soul, that would make men and women distinct species, which does not align with Church teaching.[15]
Even if the species distinction was true, then intersex conditions should not arise, and following this logic, those who identify their gender as non-binary should be intersexed, but most human persons with intersex conditions are not non-binary.[16] The reality, which aligns with theological anthropology, is that the chromosomal gene, Sex Determining Region on Y (SRY), causes dimorphic differentiation of the gonads in the foetus, leading to dimorphic endocrine regimes that lead to the dimorphic development of secondary sex characteristics, literally, “male and female He created them”.[17]
The theological anthropology explained thus far would allow for a number of approaches to teaching both transgender and cisgender (non-transgender) people what the Catholic Church teaches on this topic as it relates to gender identity. A conventional approach is to teach that rather than acting upon transgender desires, the human person should muster the will to intellectually accept their biological sex, care for their body as it has been biologically sexed, and use it to meet their Earthly stewardship obligations.
In other words, trans people should will away from their desire to transition genders, and see their body as their body and soul as one and integrated from birth, and in potential communion with a member of the opposite sex instead.[18] In the Aristotelian-Thomistic sense, one should not transition genders because sex is necessarily and inseparably accidental, not essential to the human person qua person.[19]
This conventional approach, however, is cold comfort for trans people. For example, in her blog in 2019, University of Notre Dame Australia student Dana Pham, described part of her childhood experience with gender dysphoria as follows:
“Despite my pleas for help, I was under 18 and my parents disapproved of my wish to transition. Counselling and psychotherapy were offered instead, which felt like dancing around the solution. My life prior to transition was incredibly miserable. I was under a lot of pressure to make counselling and psychotherapy work, which only exacerbated my dysphoria and made my sense of worth nosedive. This felt like unbridled psychological abuse; it disrupted my friendships, studies, and social development, not to mention my relationship with my parents.”[20]
Gender dysphoria could be described as the transgender inclination, a phenomenon supported by emerging neuroscientific research which suggests that gender dysphoria patients may have their brains wired to a socio-cultural role of sex that is opposite their biological sex.[21] This type of brain-wiring may develop during the pregnancy of a trans child.[22] To complicate matters further for the conventional teaching approach, there is no clear-cut Magisterial teaching on how to respond to transgender people experiencing gender dysphoria.[23]
Nevertheless, the cold comfort teaching is unavoidable, as the Church cannot stop teaching what is true, or be silent on what is true. Consequently, the Congregation for Catholic Education’s Male and Female He Created Them document is the closest to relevant Magisterial teaching, covering on transgender issues that do not directly relate to gender dysphoria. Indeed, the document does not explore gender dysphoria as a medical condition. What it does instead is examine a transgenderism that posits that for the human person, gender is a choice and a perception, irrespective of biological sex, in the context of established theological anthropology.[24]
Male and Female He Created Them responds to gender theory and (non-binary) gender ‘fluidity’, but such matters do not directly reflect Pham’s lived experiences, and those of other gender dysphoria patients.[25] Such patients do not necessarily desire to participate in gender culture wars, but end up being casualties of these wars anyway,[26] therefore the cold comfort teaching approach alone is insufficient in teaching what the Catholic Church teaches.
In the absence of clear-cut Magisterial teaching on how to respond to transgender people experiencing a medical condition which poses a complex human problem, it needs to be acknowledged, in the public discourse, that the imputability or responsibility for transitioning genders can be diminished to the extent caused by psychological factors associated with gender dysphoria,[27] much like Pham’s experiences.
If this is so, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) teaches, then it should be emphasised to transgender people that whilst they may find theological anthropology to be difficult to comprehend, such teaching does not necessarily indicate that it is a sin to transition genders, provided the act is for good reason. Pope Francis has indicated how this reconciliation can occur in teaching what the Catholic Church teaches, or has yet to teach via the Magisterium: teaching should always be “with the mercy of God, within the truth,”[28] and the Church must not abandon trans people, who are vulnerable, and are just as worthy of Jesus’ love.
Even with underdeveloped relevant Magisterial teaching, Pope Francis has already summarily indicated the way that the Catholic Church can better teach theological anthropology to transgender and cisgender people. He has already acknowledged that it is “one thing for a person to have this tendency, this option, and even change sex”, presumably in accordance with CCC 1746, whilst also stressing that “it is another thing to teach it, gender theory, in schools along these lines in order to change mentality”,[29] which contradicts theological anthropology.
(Thank you for your submission for this course.
You have covered well the basic facts around theological anthropology. I think you could have outlined more clearly the teaching on human dignity in general.
The topic you have chosen is very important and you highlight well that in the face of the issues of gender identity the Church is still growing in her response to these issues. You have clearly highlighted that the Church must continue to show love and mercy to all people.
The complexity of the human person and ‘new’ understandings present us with challenges to apply the Gospel teaching of Jesus Christ. I wonder how we can deal with better helping people who experience gender dysphoria?
I think it is also a general issue that for all people there needs to be a harmony between our spiritual life and bodily life. This harmony Christ seeks to restore through his grace…
Overall a good presentation.)
Bibliography
Aquinas, Thomas. Summa theologica. Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province. New York: Benziger Brothers, 1911–1925.
Benedict XVI. “The Listening Heart: Reflections on the foundations of Law” abc.net.au, Berlin 2011, 22 September. https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-listening-heart-reflections-on-the-foundations-of-law/10101114.
Benedict XVI. Address to the Roman Curia. Vatican City: Vatican Press, 2012.
Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2nd ed. Vatican City: Vatican Press, 1997.
Congregation for Catholic Education (for Educational Institutions). “Male and Female He Created Them”: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education”. Vatican City: Vatican Press, 2019). http://www.educatio.va/content/dam/cec/Documenti/19_0997_INGLESE.pdf.
Fields, Lisa. “What It Means to Be Transgender” webmd.com, 2017, 27 July. https://www.webmd.com/sex/features/transgender-what-it-means.
Francis. Laudato si’. Vatican City: Vatican Press, 2015.
Gooren, Louis. “The biology of human psychosexual differentiation.” Hormones and Behavior 50, no. 4 (2006): 589–601.
Guillamon A., Junque, C. & Gómez-Gil, E. “A Review of the Status of Brain Structure Research in Transsexualism.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 45, no. 7 (2016): 1615–1648.
Jones, David Albert. “Truth in transition? Gender identity and Catholic anthropology.” New Blackfriars: A Review 99, no. 1084 (2018): 756–774.
Klima, Gyula. “MAN=BODY+SOUL: Aquinas’s Arithmetic of Human Nature” fordham.edu. https://faculty.fordham.edu/klima/bodysoul.htm.
Mason, Rex. ‘Life before and after death in the Old Testament’ in Colwell, J. (ed) Called to One Hope. Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire: Paternoster Press, 2000.
National Center for Transgender Equality. “Understanding Non-Binary People: How to Be Respectful and Supportive.” Accessed July 09, 2021. https://transequality.org/issues/resources/understanding-non-binary-people-how-to-be-respectful-and-supportive.
Newton, William. “Why Aquinas’s Metaphysics of Gender Is Fundamentally Correct: A Response to John Finley.” The Linacre Quarterly 87, no. 2 (2019): 198–205, https://doi.org/10.1177/0024363919884795.
Pham, Dana. “Growing Up Transgender and Vietnamese in Australia” medium.com, April 7, 2019. https://medium.com/empowered-trans-woman/growing-up-transgender-and-vietnamese-in-australia-3eb4b63285b8.
Reardon, Sara. “The largest study involving transgender people is providing long-sought insights about their health” nature.com, 2019, 24 April. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01237-z.
Stanford Center for the Study of Language and Information. “Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Dualism” plato.stanford.edu, 2020, 11 September. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/#SubDua.
Tobin, Bernadette. “Gender and Personal Identity: Two Views” abc.net.au, 2017, 5 September 2017. https://www.abc.net.au/religion/gender-and-personal-identity-two-views/10095420.
Yarhouse, Mark. Understanding Gender Dysphoria: Navigating Transgender Issues in a Changing Culture. Downers Grove IL: Intervarsity Press, 2015.
Footnotes
[1] Fields, Lisa, What It Means to Be Transgender, 27 July 2017, https://www.webmd.com/sex/features/transgender-what-it-means.
[2] Reardon, Sara, The largest study involving transgender people is providing long-sought insights about their health, 24 April 2019, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01237-z.
[3] Stanford Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Dualism, 11 September 2020, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/#SubDua.
[4] Rex Mason, ‘Life before and after death in the Old Testament’ in Colwell, J. (ed) op cit, 67–82.
[5] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Vatican City: Vatican Press, 1997), 44, 367, https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/ccc_toc.htm.
[6] Ibid, 357.
[7] Congregation for Catholic Education (for Educational Institutions), “Male and Female He Created Them”: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education, (Vatican City: Vatican Press, 2019), 31, http://www.educatio.va/content/dam/cec/Documenti/19_0997_INGLESE.pdf.
[8] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 358.
[9] Ibid, 372.
[10] St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, 1485, https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1076.htm, I:76:1.
[11] Gyula Klima, MAN=BODY+SOUL: Aquinas’s Arithmetic of Human Nature, https://faculty.fordham.edu/klima/bodysoul.htm.
[12] Benedict XVI, The Listening Heart: Reflections on the foundations of Law, Berlin, 22 September 2011, https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-listening-heart-reflections-on-the-foundations-of-law/10101114.
[13] Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia, 21 December 2012, http://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2012/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20121221_auguri-curia.html.
[14] Bernadette Tobin, Gender and Personal Identity: Two Views, 5 September 2017, https://www.abc.net.au/religion/gender-and-personal-identity-two-views/10095420.
[15] William Newton, “Why Aquinas’s Metaphysics of Gender Is Fundamentally Correct: A Response to John Finley,” The Linacre Quarterly 87, no. 2 (2019): 198–205, https://doi.org/10.1177/0024363919884795.
[16] “Understanding Non-Binary People: How to Be Respectful and Supportive,” National Center for Transgender Equality, accessed July 09, 2021, https://transequality.org/issues/resources/understanding-non-binary-people-how-to-be-respectful-and-supportive.
[17] Newton, “Why Aquinas’s Metaphysics of Gender Is Fundamentally Correct,” 198–205.
[18] Francis, Encyclical Letter on Care for Our Common Home Laudato Si’, 24 May 2015, 155, http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html.
[19] Newton, “Why Aquinas’s Metaphysics of Gender Is Fundamentally Correct,” 198–205.
[20] Dana Pham, Growing Up Transgender and Vietnamese in Australia, 7 April 2019, https://medium.com/empowered-trans-woman/growing-up-transgender-and-vietnamese-in-australia-3eb4b63285b8.
[21] Antonio Guillamon, Carme Junque and Esther Gómez-Gil, “A Review of the Status of Brain Structure Research in Transsexualism,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 45, no. 7 (2016): 1615–1648.
[22] Louis Gooren, “The biology of human psychosexual differentiation,” Hormones and Behavior 50, no. 4 (2006): 589–601.
[23] David Albert Jones, “Truth in transition? Gender identity and Catholic anthropology,” New Blackfriars: A Review 99, no. 1084 (2018): 756–774.
[24] “Male and Female He Created Them”: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education, 11.
[25] Ibid, 19.
[26] Mark Yarhouse, Understanding Gender Dysphoria: Navigating Transgender Issues in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove IL: Intervarsity Press, 2015), 42.
[27] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1746.
[28] Tobin, “Gender and Personal Identity.”
[29] Tobin, “Gender and Personal Identity.”