CV NEWS FEED // The Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales has issued a document on gender theory in which they insist that sexual identity is not a mere “construction.”
According to a April 24 press release, the document, titled “Intricately woven by the Lord, A pastoral reflection on gender by the bishops of England and Wales,” “emphasizes that all are welcome in the Church, but says that the sexual identity of an individual is not a purely ‘cultural or social construction.’”
“The document refutes the idea, proposed by Gender Identity Theory, that everyone has an ‘inner’ gender identity, which sometimes fails to match the biological sex of the individual,” the release stated: “It upholds the value of the body and importance of sexual differentiation.”
Divided into three parts, the document expands on the Church’s position towards so-called “Gender Identity Theory,” Catholic understanding of the human person, and carrying out an authentic pastoral accompaniment, “in which we listen and seek to understand each and every person in their complexity, including those struggling with gender identity.”
The document continues:
Flowing from this, our pastoral accompaniment should view the other as “sacred ground”, viewing every person as they are at this moment.
The heart of accompaniment, then, requires a reverence towards each person’s situation before God and towards each person’s life of grace as ‘mysteries which no one can fully know from without’. This, states Pope Francis, means we refrain from ‘making judgements about their responsibility and culpability’.
Bishop David Oakley of Northampton stated in the release that Bishops were motivated to publish the document for the benefit of those working in pastoral contexts where the issue of sex and gender remain complex.
He concluded:
Accompaniment is crucial to the journey of faith, and we wish to emphasize that everyone is welcome in the Church. It is vital that as followers of Christ we imitate the boundless mercy and compassion of God as we deal with the complexity of another’s life.
But this needs to be done with a clear understanding of the Catholic vision and understanding of the human person and a holistic view of human sexuality.