Catholic Church blasts gender-affirming surgery and maternal surrogacy as affronts to human dignity

Rome — The Vatican has blasted the practices of gender-affirming surgery and maternal surrogacy in a new document, declaring both are inconsistent with God’s plan for human life. The Catholic Church’s document puts both practices on a par with abortion and euthanasia in terms of their perceived negative impact on human dignity. The document, titled …

Read more

First cardinal prosecuted in Vatican’s criminal court convicted of embezzlement

 A Vatican tribunal on Saturday convicted a cardinal of embezzlement and sentenced him to 5 ½ years in prison in one of several verdicts handed down in a complicated financial trial that aired the city state’s dirty laundry and tested its justice system. Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the first cardinal ever prosecuted by the Vatican criminal court, …

Read more

Vatican says transgender people can be baptized and become godparents — but with caveats

The Vatican announced Wednesday that transgender people can be baptized and become godparents under certain conditions, as well as serve as witnesses to church weddings. The statement, which was written in Portuguese, was made in response to a Brazilian bishop who asked the Vatican about the church’s stance on transgender people within its congregations.  The …

Read more