U.S. Catholic Bishops Formalize Policy on Gender-Affirming Care
U.S. Catholic bishops voted on Wednesday to officially prohibit gender-affirming care for transgender patients within Catholic hospitals. This decision concludes a multi-year process by the U.S. Catholic Church to establish its stance on transgender health care.
The bishops convened in Baltimore and overwhelmingly approved revisions to their ethical and religious directives. These directives serve as guidelines for the thousands of Catholic health care institutions and providers across the nation.
Catholic hospitals provide care to over one in seven U.S. patients daily, according to the Catholic Health Association. In some communities, Catholic hospitals represent the only available medical center.
While major medical organizations and health groups endorse gender-affirming care for transgender patients, most Catholic health care institutions have not offered such services, which can include hormonal, psychological, and surgical interventions. The newly approved directives formalize this prohibition. Individual bishops will oversee the implementation of these directives within their respective dioceses.
Bishop Robert Barron of Minnesota's Winona-Rochester diocese stated during the public discussion that the church's clear position on "gender ideology" is significant.
The Catholic Health Association acknowledged the bishops for incorporating much of its input into the directives. In a statement, the association affirmed that "Catholic providers will continue to welcome those who seek medical care from us and identify as transgender. We will continue to treat these individuals with dignity and respect, which is consistent with Catholic social teaching and our moral obligation to serve everyone, particularly those who are marginalized."
These new guidelines integrate previous documents on gender identity issued by the Vatican in 2024 and the U.S. bishops in 2023. The 2023 doctrinal note, titled "Moral Limits to the Technological Manipulation of the Human Body," explicitly stated: "Catholic health care services must not perform interventions, whether surgical or chemical, that aim to transform the sexual characteristics of a human body into those of the opposite sex, or take part in the development of such procedures."
Responses from Other Religious Groups
Views within the Catholic Church vary regarding transgender rights. Some parishes and priests accept trans Catholics, while others are less inclusive.
Michael Sennett, a trans man involved with his Massachusetts parish, stated that "Catholic teaching upholds the invaluable dignity of every human life, and for many trans people, gender-affirming care is what makes life livable."
Sennett serves on the board of New Ways Ministry, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ inclusion within the Catholic Church. In 2024, New Ways Ministry facilitated a meeting with Pope Francis to discuss the necessity of gender-affirming care.
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, noted that for many transgender Catholics he knows, "the transition process was not just a biological necessity, but a spiritual imperative. That if they were going to be living as authentic people in the way that they believe God made them, then transition becomes a necessary thing."
On the same day as the U.S. Catholic bishops' discussion on gender identity, leaders from several other religious denominations released a joint statement supporting transgender, intersex, and nonbinary individuals. This occurred during a period when various state legislatures and the Trump administration have introduced policies impacting the rights of these groups.
The ten signatories included the heads of the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Episcopal Church, the Union for Reform Judaism, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Their statement declared: "During a time when our country is placing their lives under increasingly serious threat, there is a disgraceful misconception that all people of faith do not affirm the full spectrum of gender – a great many of us do. Let it be known instead that our beloveds are created in the image of God – Holy and whole."
U.S. Bishops Address Immigration
Concluding their conference in Baltimore, the Catholic bishops also approved a "special message" on immigration. Such pastoral statements are infrequent, with the last one issued in 2013 concerning the Obama administration's mandate for insurers to cover contraception.
Individual Catholic leaders have previously expressed concerns regarding Trump administration immigration policies. Reports indicate that fear of immigration enforcement has impacted Mass attendance in some parishes, and local clergy are working to provide sacraments to detained immigrants.
The bishops' statement noted: "We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement. We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants. We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care."
Multiple bishops voiced support for the statement during the final afternoon discussion, including Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, the newly elected president of the conference.
Coakley stated his strong support for the statement, emphasizing its benefit for immigrant communities and its call "upon our lawmakers and our administration to offer us a meaningful path of reform of our immigration system."
Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich recommended strengthening the language concerning mass deportation, identifying it as a central issue faced by their communities. The updated text now specifies that U.S. Catholic bishops "oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people."