The Catholic Hierarchy is Losing the Battle About Gender



Recently there was more news about complicated sexual identity. That is to say identifying oneself as male or female is not always easy. The Vatican responded with a statement issued six months ago. It was the same old same old one can paraphrase as "God created man, male and female."

As the world's public increases in understanding the complexities of the subject and the Vatican, especially the last two Popes, build higher and higher walls around their ancient position the more backward and ridiculous it looks.

One way I've seen the faithful deal with this kind of a dilemma where it is obvious the church is wrong is to say, "Yes, but it's only a few people." This is the way it deals with deaths of women who die in childbirth when a Catholic church will not provide an abortion, "It's just a few women." The same is true of babies with indeterminate gender and adults who say they do not feel they are of the gender assigned to them.  The Popes do not admit the Bible is wrong. Instead they say, "It's just a few babies and people." When the facts are in front of them and they refuse to acknowledge them the Popes are rightly viewed as out there in la la land.

Both of the last two Popes have dealt with this information by scolding anyone who disagrees with the church's position. Pope Benedict did it in a Christmas message. Pope Frances does it with a smile on his face. University of Chicago scholar Mary Ann Case has written about "...the Vatican's decades-long, world wide war on what it has come to call 'gender ideology.'"

The Vatican is making a easy-to-win war much harder than it needs to be. Sister Mary Ann Case of a Washington, D.C. Catholic school allowed an announcement of a gay wedding in the school's newsletter. She said there is competition between the teaching of the church on sexuality and the Commandment to love. The latter wins, she decided.

Why can't the Popes just handle it that way and move on?


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