A trans response to the synods of bishops 2024

 

In the first synodal Assembly of the Synod of Bishops held from October 4 to 29, 2023, took off the final phase of the synodal process that the Catholic Church started two years ago. From this final phase a document emerged where multiple convergences were recognized, as well as the many issues that were still pending to be addressed and different proposals on how to do it, always advancing on a path, which deep down we recognize as eternal, in that it is not so important our final end as walking together, listening and communing with each other. In this sense there are several proposals about a need for greater formation, listening, reflection and theological debate around certain topics (proposals 9l, 9n, 10i, 10j, 14g, 14h, 14i, 16n, 16p and especially proposal 15k). Within this 15k proposal, it is encouraged to promote initiatives that allow shared discernment on controversial issues, also giving a voice to people directly affected by said controversies. That is why in this text we will try, at the request of said proposal, to shed light on the trans issue starting from the scriptures and tradition, but at the same time giving transsexual people their own voice, since synodality cannot be understood without speaking nor taking account the personal point of view of the people affected by each issue. 

Fundamentals.

a) Beyond the scriptures, in our Catholic Tradition, and in the light of the Holy Spirit, there are countless messages from saints that affirm and defend transsexual people in a univocally positive way. In order not to be long, we have chosen only three, but there are many more. Saint Francis of Assisi "If God can work through me, He can also work through each one of you ", Saint Catherine of Siena "Be who God wants you to be and you will set the whole world on fire ", Saint Therese of Jesus "God does not inspire impossible desires". In all of them it stands out as what is apparently imperfect, against the tide, unexpected, what has no logic and should not be possible, however thanks to God it becomes perfectly possible, because God does not inspire impossible desires, on the contrary, he has dreamed of a full life for each of us, and if we follow it we will set the entire world on fire, since God can work through anyone and the kingdom of heaven is not closed to anyone.

b) Within this Church Tradition it is also important to remember how transsexual people have been part of it throughout history, as lay people and also sometimes as consecrated persons and part of the clergy. We will mention only two, a trans woman, named Paola, who in 1987 went from priest to nun, after coming out of the closet, and a trans man, who according to the legend was elected Pope. Beyond controversies, the important thing is to highlight how both were admired and respected enough by their contemporaries in the Church to remain consecrated within it, even after coming out of the closet, which indicates that they were believing people, with great faith and religiosity and that God worked through them, as Saint Francis said. 

 c) At the same time, today in countless parishes there are trans people, both inside and out of the closet, who attend mass regularly or occasionally trying to lead their life of faith and their relationship with God and the Church in the best way possible, which is not always easy for them since they often feel on the margins of it. All these baptized people, members of the Church and who contribute to it, are also part of the body of the Church (1 Corinthians 12 14:26 ) .

Voices of trans people

d) We could not work authentically from synodality if to understand and decide on the trans issue we based ourselves solely on the Scriptures and Tradition of the Church. Although in the previous points we have started exclusively from them, we are also called to give due space to the voices of transsexual people in order to reach the common meeting to which we are all called. The main points of these voices and perspectives are detailed below.

e) To begin with, trans is what is unexpected, what goes against the tide, what has no apparent logic, because it has its own logic, which is not that of the others. Beyond transphobia or rejection, the truth is that trans people are given a name at birth, we have genitals and a body that makes parents and society place a series of expectations on us, which however as we grow and begin to develop and express ourselves, we completely challenge ourselves. No, this name does not represent me. No, this genre does not identify me. No, I am not this way. Trans is unexpected, it goes against the tide, it is not understood, it has its own logic, which is different from that of others. In this sense, it resonates a lot that our gender, our kingdom, may not be of this world, especially that of non-binary people, but that does not make it any less authentic and real. That the logic of trans people is close to that of vineyard workers, where the person who makes the transition in childhood at the age of ten is not more trans than the person who made the transition as an adult at sixty or the one who never could or wanted to. The one that does many operations and the one that does nothing, because the important thing is not who arrives first or get more things done, but rather being just part of that vineyard. 

f) Secondly, and in an apparently contradictory way, although perfectly complementary, because as we already said, trans has its own logic,  immutability within change, change to reach the immutable, that is to a large extent the trans experience. Because it is not about changing, but on the contrary, about being ourselves authentically, always. Trans people are often judged and asked a lot from the outside about our transition, about the before and after, about the sometimes spectacular changes, and that is why we are mistakenly associated with change, with transformation, when in reality it is the permanence, immutability, the I am me even if only I understand it, one of our most defining characteristics. We are trans from the moment we are born until we die, our gender never really changes, even if it is a fluid gender, because it is the immutability of that fluidity that is important and not the expression we make of it one day or another. It is common that we can go through different phases of exploration, with great apparent changes, but they are in search of our immutable internal identity, which we often do not know or understand well, because they are complex, unexpected, countercurrent identities, which have their own logic. 

g) The trans experience colors and makes certain passages of the Gospel especially resonate, like all the verses about dying to live, about being born again, about changing the superfluous to maintain the essential, the immovable, our identity. No one knows better than a trans person what it is to die, renouncing the old life  totally and completely, to be able to live fully in the life to which we feel called since we were born . And the passages that tell us about our origin also resonate greatly with trans people. The Bible says that before we were born, God knew us and named each of us. However, it is very possible that our parents, confused by our genitals, did not succeed in giving us the name that God had thought for us so all our changes, our tireless search for our identity, would be to find that immutability, that name that God thought for us since the beginning of time and to which we feel inevitably attracted (Luke 10:20). Because we are not the ones who choose our name, as it may seem, but we often feel that it is our name that chooses us, that immutable name that God had already thought for each of us before we were born. 

h) Trans people, even those who are not believers, either because they never felt God inside them or because the intense pain of the transphobia they received led them to reject Him, have a total faith in their identity, in what they are, in the name that they know, that they feel, that they know in some way that God thought for them before they were born. Because transsexuality is a matter of faith, as this testimony from a trans woman shows us:  I am a woman and I know it as clearly as that God exists and loves me. And if I didn't live as a woman, that's when I would face God's plan for me. I have no proof that I am a woman except that I know it, just as I have no proof that God exists and loves me except that I know it. 

    There can be no greater faith than this, because we have no proof, no scripture, no prophets or Church. And yet we know it is true, because we feel the immutable name that God gave each of us before we were born. And it is not an empty faith, it is a faith that moves mountains and thanks to it is how we are able to overcome the mountain of obstacles, some major, others minor, that as trans people we face throughout our lives.

i) But although our faith moves mountains and there are countless examples of this both in our days and throughout history, with trans people who were able to live their lives normally despite all the circumstances against them, the truth is that our faith in ourselves, that we are what we say we are, in our identity is still that, faith. And faith can be fragile, it can be broken, it can be lost, as any believing person knows. And when a trans person, due to the difficulties along the way, because they feel that they are insurmountable, that there is no possible way out, that it is impossible for them to live according to the name and the life that they feel that God had chosen for them, when they lose faith in his own identity, even briefly, can commit horrible acts against his person. Do not be afraid, said the Lord, I am always with you. And it is words like these that in the moments of greatest difficulty have kept many trans believers standing, alive, because even losing faith in themselves, they kept it in the Lord. But what about those trans people who, because they were on the margins of the Church, because they suffered rejection from the entire society, including the Church, lost their faith, stopped being believers, if due to other difficulties in life, they also lose faith in themselves, even momentarily? In this document we also want to try to give a voice to those people who lost it, who are no longer among us, who lacked faith to reach the end, who had a single moment of weakness in a life of strength. We pray for them and that this document helps so that in the future there will be more trans people who can lean on the Lord when their faith in themselves sometimes falters. May they feel authentically welcomed by the Church, and the rest of society, because that is what saves lives.

Conclusions

 

j) In this text we have tried to present arguments on the trans issue both from the  Tradition of the Church as well as from the voices of trans people themselves, to help us all walk together in synodality, understanding each other in our differences but above all in what unites us, which is Jesus Christ Our Lord.

 

k) We have seen as the voices of trans people, in their apparent lack of logic, in their going against the tide which is able to move mountains that were at first sight impossible, share many points in common with the Gospel, too many to be a mere coincidence. And that the Holy Spirit, speaking through the Tradition of the Church behold many messages that resounds a lot with trans persons. Because when we walk in synodality we realize that there are many more things that unite us than those that separate us.

 

l) It may seem that this document is written with the sole purpose of benefiting trans people and then we would be completely missing the point. It is the Church as a whole that benefits from welcoming people who are separated by it on the margins, because it is written that the salvation is more in danger for those who judge and condemn, for those who close doors to others without passing them through than for those who are last, cry and are persecuted. All of this text is not only for the benefit of trans people so that they are finally welcomed into the Church, but it is a text of love towards our enemies, towards those who persecute and attack us, so they will be able to realize in synodality of their errors, that in reality it is not who is born as an eunuch in his mother's womb who sins, but who does not love his neighbor. Because the Church should not fight the diversity of God's creation, but the inequality created by injustice, selfishness and the sins of man, and to the extent that this text helps the Church to close empty fronts and focus on those that truly matter, the entire Church as a whole will benefit from it.

m) There is a somewhat longer version of this document that includes references to the Holy Scriptures, but it failed to garner the unanimous support of the trans and LGBTQ+ Christian community to be sent to the Synod. However, an important part of the trans and LGBTQ+ community thinks that they are still valid and interesting references, so readers who want to know more about the subject are encouraged to look for this version that was published prior to Dignitas Infinita in Spanish on this link https://tinyurl.com/mta6zwk8

n) In closing, we would like to thank God for the beautiful and fulfilling lives He has dreamed for each of us. And trans lives, even if they are against the tide, unexpected and seemingly out of all logic, have an intrinsic beauty that can only come from God, who dreamed us that way. And every time a trans life come to their end before its time, it's God's dreams for that person which are shattered. Because He has a vocation for each one of us and we should not judge the vocation of a neighbor we do not know or understand, but to try to follow our own, no matter how impossible it may seem at first glance.