While the so-called “transgender” movement seems to be in a moment of cultural retreat, Catholics are still called upon to offer truth in love to those afflicted by gender dysphoria. That was a key conclusion emerging from a gathering of Diocese of Lansing clergy and lay staff held in Brighton, February 27.
“Yes, I think that the tide is turning on these questions in the sense that some of the ideologies that are behind the movement are so disconnected from reality,” said Dr. Abigail Favale, pictured above, of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, Notre Dame University, who was the keynote speaker at the event held at Saint Patrick Parish Hall.
“On the other hand, I think it’s also important to realize that while we need to be very clear in our critique and rejection of ideologies and frameworks that are wrong and harmful, we also have to be prepared to welcome and walk with those people who have been harmed by those frameworks and ideologies.”
“Gender dysphoria” is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as “clinically significant distress or impairment related to a strong desire to be of another gender, which may include desire to change primary and/or secondary sex characteristics.” This desire to change sex and its accompanying distress may be so intense it can lead to depression and anxiety and have a harmful impact on daily life.
In recent decades, there has been a growing trend among many counselors and clinicians to direct those with gender dysphoria towards surgical or hormonal interventions in an attempt to alleviate their symptoms including, controversially, prescribing puberty blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones to children and adolescents. The Diocese of Lansing published guidelines on the issue in 2021 rejecting this approach as unproven, unethical, and unhelpful.
Yesterday’s diocesan gathering in Brighton was entitled Gender, Faith, & Ministry: Engaging with Contemporary Challenges. The day began with Holy Mass in the nearby parish church. The remainder of the morning saw Dr. Favale give a presentation based upon her 2022 book, The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory.
The afternoon was then given over to small-group discussions focused on how best to pastorally care for those who are gender dysphoric with emergent questions put to a panel which consisted of Dr. Favale; Father Ed Fride, Pastor of Christ the King, Ann Arbor; Lisa Kutas, Chief of Staff, Diocese of Lansing; Will Bloomfield, General Counsel, Diocese of Lansing; and Aimée Godfrey, Director of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Lansing. At each interval during the event, a decade of the Holy Rosary was prayed by all present.
“It’s fantastic. We have nearly 20 priests here, even more deacons, and a 100 or more people who are working in lay ministry,” said event co-organizer, Craig Pohl, Director of the Office of New Evangelization for the Diocese of Lansing.
“This issue has been coming at us so fast, and in a lot of ways, in recent years. As a staff, we had collectively read Dr. Favale’s book and it has really helped us to understand, as a ministry team, how to comprehend the complexities of this issue but also how to approach it pastorally too.”
• The Diocese of Lansing’s 2021 Theological Guide: The Human Person and Gender Dysphoria, can be accessed here.
