Eremita reveals being transgender, generating debate in the Catholic Church

A woman who publicly identifies as a “transgender” Catholic hermit man in the state of Kentucky (United States) has raised questions about how the Catholic Church should deal with such cases in religious life.

According to the numeral 603 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law, the Catholic Church “recognizes the heremitic or anchoretic life, in which the faithful, with a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude, assiduous prayer and penance, dedicate their lives to praise of God and salvation of the world”.

Under the religious name Christian Matson, he made his “gender identity” public in an article on the website Religion News Service last May 19. Theresa Judgea moral philosopher who specializes in virtue ethics, moral education, the philosophy of the person, gender, and sexuality, explained that Matson’s public presentation as a hermit is problematic and causes disorientation for the faithful.

“Presenting a religious woman in such a way as to imply that he is a male religious is clearly scandalous and causes disorientation to the faithful by implying that there is no conflict between our faith and the transgender lifestyle and ideology,” he told the National Catholic Register.

The Diocese of Lexington issued a statement on May 21: “Brother Christian has sought to consecrate his life to Christ by living the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. He has been accompanied by a competent spiritual director and has received training in the Benedictine tradition.”

The local Bishop, Bishop John Stowe, accepted his profession and thanked the hermit “for his testimony of discipleship, integrity and contemplative prayer for the Church.”

The Register unsuccessfully requested an interview with Bishop Stowe last week. He was also unsuccessful in seeking comment from Matson.

According to Religion News Service, Matson attempted to join several religious congregations before contacting Bishop Stowe, who responded favorably. The bishop has been an advocate for Catholics calling for a more tolerant approach toward those considered “LGBTQ+ people.” In March 2021, he announced his support for the Equality Bill, which would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected categories in federal civil rights law, despite opposition from the Conference of Bishops. United States Catholics (USCCB).

In October 2023, Pope Francis, in response to the doubtful of five cardinals, suggested that “pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing requested by one or several people, which do not convey an erroneous conception of marriage.”

Farnan criticized the diocese’s statement about Matson: “I certainly hope that the Diocese of Lexington will clarify its statement to align it with the recent statement from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, as well as the teachings of Pope Francis.”

“As it stands, this statement bears contradictory testimony to the teachings of the Church by denying the immutable reality of sexual difference and implicitly validating the false anthropology on which trans identification is based through the use of masculine pronouns and the use of the term brother,” he added.

Pope Francis has called gender ideology recently “the ugliest danger”, since “it erases differences”.

According to Farnan, “Matson’s choosing Pentecost as a day to publicly come out as transgender not only denies the gift of the body that God gives each of us at the moment of conception, but also increases general cultural confusion and thereby damages the salvation of the world.”

Bishop Stowe’s use of male pronouns for Matson symbolizes a conflict over how to approach people who identify with a “gender” that does not correspond to their biological sex. The Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published a document in April called Infinite dignitywhich rejects gender ideology and affirms that any sex change intervention threatens the dignity of the person.

John Grabowski, professor of Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America, noted that Catholic teaching “views the body and sex as integral parts of the person,” and that struggles with what he called “gender discordance” must be addressed. , not celebrated.

Father Thomas Petri, a Dominican moral theologian, questioned how Matson could be a hermit and “publicly disagree with the teachings of the Church.”

A hermit lives only under the authority of the local bishop, observing a proper program of life. Matson, 39, grew up in Texas and Virginia, and converted to Catholicism in 2010.

He then prepared for religious life at a Benedictine monastery for men in Rhode Island since May 2021, according to a blog Matson himself posted online.

In 2021, the Archbishop of Milwaukee, Bishop Jerome Listecki, sent a memo to his fellow American bishops urging them to consider requiring DNA testing or physical examinations to ensure that all seminarians are biological men.

“Recently, the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance was made aware of cases in which a woman living under a transgender identity had been discovered to have been unknowingly admitted to the seminary or a training house of an institute of consecrated life,” wrote the archbishop, then president of the USCCB canonical affairs committee.

In one case, he added, “the individual’s sacramental records were obtained fraudulently to reflect his new identity.” “In all cases, nothing in the medical or psychological reports of these individuals indicated previous treatments or relevant surgeries.”

Archbishop Listecki did not reveal any further details, beyond saying that none of the biological women advanced to ordination.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published inNational Catholic Register.