Cool Pope Not So Cool When It Comes to Transgender Godparents

The current pope has been celebrated far and wide for being very chill (and telling people not to breed like rabbits), but here’s a gentle reminder that he’s not at all as progressive as he world likes to think: He’s just clarified that transgender individuals can’t become godparents. Sorry, the world still sucks.

Mashable reports that news of the pope’s stance broke after a Spanish bishop sent The Vatican a request to have the matter made clear to him due to recent confusion surrounding a case in which a trans man had asked to be made a child’s godfather. The pope’s response, however, was not the message of welcoming inclusion that he’s been so highly praised for.

From Reuters:

Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy said the Vatican’s doctrinal arm replied that transsexuals “publicly show an attitude contrary to the moral requirement to resolve one’s sexual identity problem according to the truth of one’s sex”.

In a statement on his diocese’s website, Zornoza Boy said: “Pope Francis has effectively said on several occasions, in line with Church teaching, that this behaviour is against man’s nature.”

The Church “wants to help everyone in their own situation with a compassionate heart, but without denying the truth it preaches,” the bishop added.

So that settles it, at least for now. The pope, who, according to Mashable, has been very open about accepting gays, lesbians, and women who have had abortions, has shown no such generosity to the trans community. In fact, a recent letter sent to all bishops stated that the church should help people accept that “all bodies are a gift from god.”

Zornoza, who will follow the pope’s decree, says that this decision has nothing to do with discriminating against people who are different or whom the church might not understand. Instead, he says that it’s simply a matter of following the church’s rules for acceptable human behavior.