Catholic Parents in Malta Say “Dignitas Infinita” Is Devastating for Transgender People

Louisa Grech, coordinator of Drachma Parents

Bondings 2.0 recently reported on the correspondence between a group of Catholic parents with LGBTQ+ children and Pope Francis, correspondence which concerned the parents’ disappointment with the negative treatment of transgender issues in Dignitas Infinita, the Vatican’s declaration on human dignity released in April. 

The organization, Drachma Parents, is a national group in Malta. Bondings 2.0 asked the group’s leaders to describe their details and opinions about Dignitas Infiinita in more detail. The following is from Louisa Grech, coordinator of Drachma Parents.

The members of Drachma Parents were greatly distressed when we read Dignitas Infinita and saw our Trans* siblings who are being once again pushed to the periphery and again denied any small shaft of light they might have found to make them feel whole.

The document’s argument that “humans are inseparably composed of both body and soul” is true enough, but only if body and soul are in harmony. If they are not, if the soul feels alienated from its body and cannot, in any way, reconcile the body it was born with to its soul, the very essence of each and every human being, then the person’s freedom and  fulfillment as a whole person is unachievable.

Medical transitioning is not a whim, a passing fancy, a desire to be God, which the document seems to assume. It is far different from that. It is a journey of much inner turmoil, much pain, much suffering on the part of the Trans* person and, eventually, also that of their parents. This experience is further compounded by society’s lack of understanding and the harassment and the bullying they suffer. No decision is taken without deep soul-searching.

Parents are very much involved in this decision, too. They witness their child going through so many struggles, closing themselves up and being uncommunicative, sometimes even losing the will to live. They fear the response society at large, the Church included, will have towards their child’s reality.

They fear for their children’s lives. Unfortunately too, parents renouncing their Trans* children and throwing them out of their home, too often motivated by religious beliefs, is a very common an occurrence. We cannot disregard this fact. The free and unconditional love of Our God, The Father, is not reflected in these actions.

Unfortunately, Dignitas Infinita will fuel hate speech, discrimination, and transphobia, and it seriously puts lives in danger.  This document sends a message of non-acceptance of Trans* people, and it continues to instill fear and hatred towards them– and all in the name of religion!

Parents have been hurt by this document to the extent that they wish to move away from the Church and away from the Sacraments. They feel devastated. And if the parents are feeling this way, can we begin to imagine or feel what Trans* persons are going through?

—Louisa Grech, May 17, 2024

Additional Information and Resources

For more perspectives on Dignitas Infinita and LGBTQ+ issues, see the following resources from New Ways Ministry:

“What Dignitas Infinita Ignored: Perspectives on LGBTQ+ Dignity” — This panel conversation about the document, its impact, and how LGBTQ+ Catholics and allies proceed from here, especially in light of the Synod on Synodality, was hosted by New Ways Ministry in April. The conversation featured theologians M. Therese Lysaught and Craig A. Ford, and transgender Catholic writer Maxwell Kuzma. A recording is available here.

Commentaries on Bondings 2.0 — In the weeks after the declaration’s release, this blog published the reactions of a number of LGBTQ+ Catholics, theologians, pastoral workers, and allies. Some of those posts are listed below. The blog’s full coverage of Dignitas Infinita is available here.

Deacon Ray Dever, “In Church Documents on Gender Identity, Where Is the Compassion?”

Fr. Daniel P. Horan, OFM, “The Strawman of “Gender Theory” in the Vatican’s New Document”

“What Transgender Catholics and Their Allies Are Saying About Dignitas Infinita”

“’A Painful Lack of Understanding’: Theologians Respond to Vatican’s Latest Declaration”

New Ways Ministry, “Vatican Document on Human Dignity Fails LGBTQ+ People”

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