Postponed Conversation with Trans Hermit Is Now Back On

Due to an outpouring of community support, a previously canceled public conversation with a  Catholic transgender religious brother has been rescheduled for April 7 reported National Catholic Reporter. 

Br. Christian Matson

Br. Christian Matson — the only known transgender religious in the Catholic Church — had been scheduled to speak March 10 at Historic St. Paul Parish in the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, where he lives as a hermit. 

However, in a March 10 Facebook post, Stan “JR” Zerkowski, a  pastoral associate at St. Paul’s, announced the event’s cancellation., Zerkowski cited vitriolic lashback as the reason to cancel, emphasizing that he would not proceed with an event where the safety of any transgender people present could not be guaranteed. Heclarified that it was not St. Paul’s parishioners who were being hateful and insisted that the event would take place at another date. 

“The trolls are not going to shut us up,” Zerkowski told NCR. “They’re not going to shut down our ministry and they’re not going to intimidate us.”

When the community at Historic St. Paul learned of the cancellation, they were displeased, said Fr. Richard Watson, the pastor. 

Father Richard Watson

“They didn’t want hate to win,” Watson told NCR, adding that he used his Mass homily for the weekend of March 15-16 to “throw down the gauntlet” against hate. 

Matson — who publicly came out in May of last year, after telling  Bishop John Stowe O.F.M Conv. of Lexington, the local bishops who serves as Mastson’s superior, that he felt compelled to go public in response to increasing anti-trans sentiment — was unsurprised at the vitriolic lashback. Matson stated:

“People have been emboldened to say nasty things to trans folks. I think that’s partly to do with our conversation about the topic in the church, where we’re really not talking with trans folks but talking about trans folks, part of which this talk was supposed to correct.” 

Matson deeply appreciated Watson’s homily, saying that he heard “nothing but the gospel” in it. According to Zerkowski, the congregation at St. Paul burst into applause following the homily. 

“That our parishioners were solidly behind us in standing with and unconditionally loving and supporting our trans community, that really spoke to me,” Zerkowski said. 

At the rescheduled event, now set to take place in the Church’s main 800-capacity building, Matson told NCR he will discuss his personal experiences, as well as outline the theological position of his upcoming book that being transgender is compatible with Catholic anthropology. 

—Jeromiah Taylor, New Ways Ministry, March 26, 2025