Fisheaters Controversy

[cappie]

A reader of the Catholic Herald from Roseville, CA asked Father Saunders -- a columnist from the magazine:

    "I know a man who had a 'sex change' operation and is now a 'woman.' What moral teaching does the Church give on this subject?" 1,2

 

Father Saunders quoted a Vatican II document titled: "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World." It stated that:

    "Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself the elements of the material world. Through him they are thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day."

 

When applied to transsexuality, the document implies that a person with GID must accept their body as it is. Surgically modifying one's body would be a serious sin.

 

He also quotes Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19:

    "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"

 

The implication is that one's body is not one's own to be changed at will.

 

Finally, he quotes the Catholic Catechism, item 2297:

    "Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reason, directly intended amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations performed on innocent persons are against the moral law."

The process of sexual reassignment involves major changes to the persons body. For a male-to-female (MTF) transsexual, this involves removal of the penis, testicles, and scrotum. It involves hormone treatment and perhaps surgery to enlarge the breasts, removing part of the Adam's apple, and/or changing the shape of her face. For a female-to-male (FTM) transsexual it involves the surgical removal of the breasts, uterus, ovaries, and hormone treatment,  Fr. Sanders refers to this as:

    "... a radical and grotesque mutilation of the body....To destroy organs purposefully that are healthy and functioning, and to try to create imitation organs which will never have the genuineness and functioning of authentic organs is gross and lacks charity. Such surgery which purposefully destroys the bodily integrity of the person must be condemned."

 

 During late 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said in a speech that our gender was a gift from the creator. He denounced those who would try to change it. He said: "It is a question here of faith in the Creator and of listening to the language of creation, the devaluation of which leads to the self-destruction of man and therefore to the destruction of the same work of God."

 

1. "Straight Answers: The Morality of 'Sex Change' Operations," The Catholic Herald, 2005-OCT-19, at: http://www.catholicherald.com/
2. "Straight Answers: Surgery That Destroys Bodily Integrity," The Catholic Herald, 2001-JAN-10, at: http://www.catholicherald.com/

 

Edited May 30, 2013 by cappie

[Gabriela]

Something about this sounds fishy to me, and it's not the name. :P

 

I don't think transsexuality is very well understood by anyone at all, and last I checked, there aren't any Church documents specifically about it. I'd be willing to bet the Church would take the same kind of stance it does on eunuchs, since functionally (assuming they have had sex selection surgery) it's the same thing, just coupled with a cosmetic surgery after the fact.

 

What is the Church's position on eunuchs?

[Nihil Obstat]

What is the Church's position on eunuchs?

Do not make them. :P

[Basilisa Marie]

Do not make them. :P

 

Anymore. :|

[Nihil Obstat]

Anymore. :|

I am not clear- were eunuchs ever really allowed, or was the whole weird practice simply tolerated?

[CatholicsAreKewl]

I am not clear- were eunuchs ever really allowed, or was the whole weird practice simply tolerated?

 

... that's an extreme form of toleration.

[Nihil Obstat]

... that's an extreme form of toleration.

It was a pretty scandalous situation all around. Peeps be wack.

[dUSt]

Skilled or unskilled?

[HisChildForever]

What the heck is a crypto-Jew?

[Nihil Obstat]

What the heck is a crypto-Jew?

Apparently it is a Jew who pretends to be Catholic in order to literally destroy the Church. :idontknow:

[HisChildForever]

Apparently it is a Jew who pretends to be Catholic in order to literally destroy the Church. :idontknow:

 

LOL.

[Nihil Obstat]

LOL.

Never met one myself, but apparently they are eeeeeeeeverywhere.

[Winchester]

I'm happy I don't even know who these assholes are.

[Nihil Obstat]

I'm happy I don't even know who these arse portals are.

The crypto-Jews?

[Basilisa Marie]

I am not clear- were eunuchs ever really allowed, or was the whole weird practice simply tolerated?

 

I dunno, using castrati instead of women to get those lovely soprano sounds during liturgies doesn't exactly sound like simple toleration. It was definitely officially allowed.  In "Cum pro nostro pastorali munere" Pope Sixtus V specifically reorganized the papal choir to include castrati along with falsettos and boys, because women were banned from speaking in church.  :|  It wasn't until the 19th century that Pope Leo XIII forbid the hiring of new castrati by the Church, because when Pope Benedict XIV tried to ban then in the 18th century they were too popular and he was worried that people would stop attending church on Sunday if he banned castrati.  Alessandro Moreschi was the last castrato employed by the Church, and he died in 1922.  

 

So yeah.  Complicated history.  It's one of those "whoops" topics in Church history, but surprisingly not quite as popular as Galileo and the Inquisition.