Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 75(1) February 2025

Pope Francis - a vocal critic of gender ideology

Fr James McTavish, FMVD

Fr James McTavish Pope Francis has been a vocal critic of gender ideology. Already in 2015 when visiting Manila, Philippines, he said, “Let us be on guard against colonisation by new ideologies. There are forms of ideological colonisation which are out to destroy the family.”[1]

In Amoris Laetitia, his encyclical addressing the pastoral care of families he again brought up the issue:

Yet another challenge is posed by the various forms of an ideology of gender that “denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman and envisages a society without sexual differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis of the family. This ideology leads to educational programmes and legislative enactments that promote a personal identity and emotional intimacy radically separated from the biological difference between male and female. Consequently, human identity becomes the choice of the individual, one which can also change over time.” It is a source of concern that some ideologies of this sort, which seek to respond to what are at times understandable aspirations, manage to assert themselves as absolute and unquestionable, even dictating how children should be raised. It needs to be emphasised that “biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender) can be distinguished but not separated.”[2]

Later in Laudato Si’ he underlined,

Pope Benedict XVI spoke of an “ecology of man”, based on the fact that “man too has a nature that he must respect and that he cannot manipulate at will”. It is enough to recognize that our body itself establishes us in a direct relationship with the environment and with other living beings. The acceptance of our bodies as God’s gift is vital for welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father and our common home, whereas thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation. Learning to accept our body, to care for it and to respect its fullest meaning, is an essential element of any genuine human ecology. Also, valuing one’s own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognize myself in an encounter with someone who is different. In this way we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment. It is not a healthy attitude which would seek “to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it.” [3]

Pope Francis is clearly pointing out the dangers of gender ideology. In his recent address to participants in the international Symposium "Man-Woman: Image of God”, he noted, “today the worst danger is gender ideology, which cancels out differences. I asked for studies to be made on this ugly ideology of our time, which erases differences and makes everything the same; to erase difference is to erase humanity. Man and woman, on the other hand, stand in fruitful “tension”.”[4]

Latest Vatican teaching in Dignitas Infinita

The latest Vatican teaching on gender issues can be found in Dignitas Infinita, a document released by the Dicastery (formerly “Congregation”) for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF). In number 56, the document cites Pope Francis: “Regrettably, in recent decades, attempts have been made to introduce new rights that are neither fully consistent with those originally defined nor always acceptable. They have led to instances of ideological colonization, in which gender theory plays a central role; the latter is extremely dangerous since it cancels differences in its claim to make everyone equal.”[5] Dignitas Infinita also humbly recognizes that the scientific coherence of gender theory “is the subject of considerable debate among experts.”[6]

Regarding sex-change, the DDF here teaches, “It follows that any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception.”[7]

As the prestigious National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia clearly underlines, we “are either male or female persons, and nothing can change that. A person can mutilate his or her genitals, but cannot change his or her sex. Changing one’s sex is fundamentally impossible; these procedures are fundamentally acts of mutilation.”[8]

Support from the Cass review

In April of last year, the much-awaited Cass review was published, two days after the release of Dignitas Infinita. The Cass review:

Was rather critical of the gender affirmative paradigm that had been adopted wholeheartedly by the now defunct Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock clinic.

Points out that the treatment indications of the World Professional Association of Trans-gender Healthcare (WPATH), to which many countries devoutly adhere to, have been “found by the University of York appraisal process to lack developmental rigour.”[9]

Notes that the distribution of puberty blockers at will as part of gender affirmative treatment was not backed up by any solid medical evidence. “The adoption of a treatment with uncertain benefits without further scrutiny is a significant departure from established practice.”[10]

Found that puberty blockers demonstrated “no changes in gender dysphoria or body”. [11]

On the use of cross-sex hormones, “would recommend extreme caution.” [12]

Is realistic, and desires that these patients can thrive. However, “for the majority of young people, a medical pathway may not be the best way to achieve this.” [13]

Strongly recommends treating these young people holistically and not solely on the basis of their gender presentation. The holistic approach is vital as young people “presenting with gender dysphoria often have complex additional mental health needs.”[14]

Conclusion

The teaching of Pope Francis on gender theory has been crystal clear. From way back in 2015, he already foresaw in a prophetic way the dangers of gender ideology. At that time the gender service at the Tavistock was beginning to thrive. Thousands of children then began to pass through the system, and the main treatment option given for their distress was a medicalized pathway consisting of puberty blockers, with cross-sex hormones and possible surgery following on later all this invasive and potentially mutilating treatment without a solid evidence base! [15] Pope Francis has been very concerned about this “ugly ideology of our time” and the much-needed Cass review lends support to his teaching. The NHS is now putting the Cass recommendations into practice with the intention of undertaking a more holistic assessment of these vulnerable young people.

References

Francis, Address of His Holiness Pope Francis at the Meeting with Families, 16 January 2015.
Francis, Amoris Laetitia, n. 56.
Francis, Laudato Si’, n. 155.
Francis, Address to participants in the International Conference "Man-woman: Image Of God. Towards An Anthropology of Vocations", Rome, 1 March 2024. [55] Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dignitas Infinita, n. 56.
Ibid., n. 57.
Ibid., n. 60.
National Catholic Bioethics Center, “FAQ on Gender Identity Disorder and ‘Sex Change’ Operations”.
Hilary Cass, The Cass Review—Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People: Final Report, National Health Service, England (April 2024), p. 28.
Ibid., p. 25.
Ibid., p. 32.
Ibid., p. 197.
Ibid., p. 30.
Ibid., p. 186. The word “holistic” is mentioned 43 times in the Cass review.
The Cass review underscored that the existing data behind the gender affirmative paradigm is “remarkably weak” (Ibid., p.13).

Fr James McTavish, FMVD, is a Scottish Catholic missionary priest of the Verbum Dei community (https://uk.verbumdei.org/).

He is a surgeon by profession, educated at Cambridge University and the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh.

Currently based in Rome as a General Counsellor, his teaching affiliation is through the St. Paul the Apostle Verbum Dei Institute of Theology in Loeches, Spain.

Catholic Medical Quarterly