Pope Francis Refers to “Gender Ideology” as the “Worst Danger” Today

Continuing the dissonance between his words on gender and his pastoral actions towards transgender people, Pope Francis has condemned “gender ideology” as an “ugly ideology of our time.” What are LGBTQ+ Catholics and allies to make of this persistent dissonance?

The pope made his remarks while addressing a meeting, “Man-Woman: Image of God. For an Anthropology of Vocations,” held at the Vatican this past week. According to the National Catholic Reporter, some of Francis’ words on gender were impromptu comments, while others were from a prepared text read by an aide. Study of “this ugly ideology of our time” was needed, the pope said. NCR reported further:

“However, [the pope] continued speaking off-the-cuff, saying, ‘I would like to emphasize one thing: It is very important that we have this meeting, this meeting between men and women, because today the worst danger is gender ideology, which erases differences.’

“As he often has done in the past, the pope referenced the dystopian science fiction novel, ‘Lord of the World,’ written in 1907 by Msgr. Robert H. Benson, a former Anglican vicar, encouraging his audience to read it. He reiterated that he considers the novel to be ‘prophetic because it shows this trend of erasing all differences.'”

Beyond his condemnation of “gender ideology,” Francis’ larger reflection to the meeting of the Center for Research and Anthropology of Vocations was about the universal call of all people to a vocation. According to NCR, the center aims “to promote and support research in the social sciences on vocations in society.” Of vocation generally, the pope explained:

“Every person needs to discover and express himself or herself ‘as called, as a calling, as a person who finds fulfillment in listening and responding, sharing his or her being and gifts with others for the common good,’ he wrote.

“People today sometimes ‘forget or obscure this reality, with the risk of reducing the human being to his or her material needs or basic needs alone, as if he or she were an object without a conscience or will, simply pulled along by life like a gear in a machine,’ he wrote.

“‘Instead, men and women are created by God and are the image of the Creator; that is, they carry within themselves a desire for eternity and happiness that God himself has sown in their hearts and which they are called to realize through a specific vocation,’ he wrote. ‘We are called to happiness, to the fullness of life, to something great for which God has destined us.’

“‘We are part of a plan of love, and we are invited to go outside of ourselves and realize it, for ourselves and for others,’ he wrote.”

Pope Francis’ warnings against the perceived threat of “gender ideology,” a nebulous term used by some Catholics to critique not only transgender people, but LGBTQ+ identities generally, once again reveals the pope’s sharp dissonance on gender issues.

These harsh words come from the same pope who has made history by repeatedly meeting with trans people, inviting them to his audiences, holding private audiences, and even sitting with some trans women at a Vatican luncheon last fall. He told trans youth: “God loves us as we are.” And yet, repeatedly, he also speaks of “gender ideology” in near-apocalyptic terms—and without much clarity. Indeed, his language on gender seems out of sync with his entire pontificate. How can a pope who speaks and writes in existential terms about climate change, whoclaims the world is experiencing World War III in piecemeal, claim that evolving understandings of gender and sexuality are the “worst danger” of our times?

Somehow, for all the good LGBTQ+ work he does, the pope in his writings seems stymied from applying his wise lessons about human flourishing to transgender and nonbinary people. For instance, in the same talk where he condemned “gender ideology,” he claims every person “needs to discover and express” themselves, find “fulfillment in listening and responding,” and share their “being and gifts with others for the common good.” It is a universal call “to something great for which God has destined us.”

LGBTQ+ people and those who love us know well that coming to acknowledge, accept, and celebrate a diverse sexual and/or gender identity is that very process of discovery, expression, listening, response, and sharing for the good of all. What the pope describes about vocation is very much like a coming out process. Rather than treating transgender people as a threat, their journeys of self-discovery and courage in living into who God created them to be should be examples for all the faithful.

Every person to some extent lives with a dissonance between their thoughts and their actions. Lent is a time to consider aligning these two more closely. Pope Francis clearly loves the trans person before him, understanding right relationship is the priority above all for Gospel living. He must turn this love into words of compassion, or at least humility before the mystery that is human identity.

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, March 2, 2024