Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington (Virginia), in his newly released Catechesis on the Human Person and Gender Ideology, has struck a brilliant blow for truth and against radical transgender ideology. Rather than cowering before the worldly might of left-wing elites, Bishop Burbidge successfully argues–from Church teaching, science, and the catalogue of harms caused by transgenderism–for the correct interpretation of the human body and offers encouragement to others around the world who want to enter the fight for truth.
Bishop Burbidge does not mince words in the Catechesis:
“The Church teaches that a person is created male or female. No one ‘is’ transgender. A person who identifies as transgender may experience troubling feelings, confusion, or a mistaken belief that he or she is or can “become” someone different. The Church does not teach that people who experience gender dysphoria or confusion are immoral or bad. At the same time, a person who deliberately rejects his or her given identity or the sexed body and seeks harmful medical or surgical interventions is pursuing a path that is objectively wrong and harmful on many levels…[Acceptance of transgendersism] presents a view of the human person contrary to the truth.”
To make his case, Burbidge begins by discussing the teaching of the Catholic Church; noting that The Church’s teaching rests on three pillars all of which can be confirmed by reason. First, “the human body is an ‘embodied soul, the composite of the spiritual and physical. The human soul is created to animate one particular body.” Second, God created us male and female. Burbidge writes:
“[I]n keeping with the authoritative witness of Scripture (cf Gen 1:27), the human person is created male or female. The human soul is created to animate and be embodied by one particular, specifically male or female, body. A person’s sex is an immutable biological reality, determined at conception. The sexed body reveals God’s design not only for each individual person, but also for all human beings….”
Third, “the differences between man and woman are ordered towards their complementary union in marriage. Indeed, the differences between man and woman, male and female, are unintelligible apart from such union… Sexual difference is at the heart of family life. Children need, and have a right to, a father and a mother.”
Importantly, Burbidge notes that the marriage between a man and woman is an icon of both Christ’s relationship with the Church and of the Trinity. He writes that “the relationship between man and woman as masculine and feminine has transcendent significance. Their complementary union serves as an icon of the marriage between Christ and the Church (cf. Eph 5:31-32). Through procreation, spouses welcome new life into the world and become a community of persons that images the Trinity.”
Burbidge then buttresses his argument for the proper understanding of the human body by appealing to science. He states:
“We know from biology that a person’s sex is genetically determined at conception and present in every cell of the body. Because the body tells us about ourselves, our biological sex does in fact indicate our inalienable identity as male or female. Thus, so-called “transitioning” might change a person’s appearance and physical traits (hormones, breasts, genitalia, etc.) but does not in fact change the truth of the person’s identity as male or female, a truth reflected in every cell of the body. Indeed, no amount of “masculinizing” or “feminizing” hormones or surgery can make a man into a woman, or a woman into a man.”
Finally, Bishop Burbidge points to the harms caused by transgendersism to support his case. He notes that all too often “’gender affirmation’ not only does not resolve a person’s struggles but also can exacerbate them.” First, he notes that transgenderism causes serious psychological harm to children. He writes:
“The acceptance and/or approval of a person’s claimed transgender identity is particularly dangerous in the case of children, whose psychological development is both delicate and incomplete. First and foremost, a child needs to know the truth: He or she has been created male or female, forever. Affirming a child’s distorted self-perception or supporting a child’s desire to “be” someone other than the person (male or female) God created, gravely misleads and confuses the child about “who” he or she is.”
Second, we are causing grave physical harm to our children when we allow them to take puberty blockers and undergo gender reassignment surgery in order to “affirm” them. He states:
“’[G]ender-affirming’ medical or surgical interventions cause significant, even irreparable, bodily harm to children and adolescents. These include the use of puberty blockers (in effect, chemical castration) to arrest the natural psychological and physical development of a healthy child, cross-sex hormones to induce the development of opposite-sex, secondary sex characteristics, and surgery to remove an adolescent’s healthy breasts, organs, and/or genitals. These kinds of interventions involve serious mutilations of the human body, and are morally unacceptable.”
Third, people who use chemicals or surgery to transition very often not only do not solve their problems but also end up not treating the underlying issues at the root of their transgender confusion. Bishop Burbidge writes:
“Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to claims that ‘gender transition’ will resolve their difficulties. Long-term studies show ‘higher rates of mortality, suicidal behavior and psychiatric morbidity in gender-transitioned individuals compared to the general population.’ In addition, studies show that children and adolescents diagnosed with gender dysphoria have high rates of comorbid mental health disorders, such as depression or anxiety, are three to four times more likely to be on the autism spectrum, and are more likely to have suffered from adverse childhood events, including unresolved loss or trauma or abuse. Psychotherapeutic treatments that incorporate ‘ongoing therapeutic work … to address unresolved trauma and loss, the maintenance of subjective well-being, and the development of the self,’ along with established treatments addressing suicidal ideation are appropriate interventions. Gender transition is not the solution. Indeed, to disregard or withhold information about the harms of pursuing “transition” or about the benefits of alternative, psychotherapeutic treatments constitutes a failure in both justice and charity.”
Significantly, Bishop Burbidge urges us to avoid giving in to the clarion call of transgenderism out of a misguided sense of compassion. While we are to avoid bullying and attacking the dignity of people suffering from gender confusion, nevertheless we must maintain our devotion to the truth:
“In this sensitive area of identity, however, there is a great danger of a misguided charity and false compassion. In this regard, we must recall, “Only what is true can ultimately be pastoral.” Christians must always speak and act with both charity and truth. After the example of the Apostle Paul, they are to seek to speak the truth in love (cf. Eph 4:15)…To affirm someone in an identity at odds with biological sex or to affirm a person’s desired “transition” is to mislead that person. It involves speaking and interacting with that person in an untruthful manner. Although the law of gradualness might prompt us to discern the best time to communicate the fullness of the truth, in no circumstances can we confirm a person in error.”
In particular, Bishop Burbidge urges Catholics to not use the new names and pronouns of people suffering from gender confusion because doing so would be a negation of the truth. He states:
“The faithful should avoid using “gender-affirming” terms or pronouns that convey approval of or reinforce the person’s rejection of the truth. It is not harsh or judgmental to decline to use such language. In the broader culture, Catholics may experience significant pressure to adopt culturally-approved terminology. However, in no circumstances should anyone be compelled to use language contrary to the truth. The right to speak the truth inheres in the human person and cannot be taken away by any human institution. Attempts by the state, corporations, or employers to compel such language, particularly by threats of legal action or job loss, are unjust. We must love in the truth, and truth must be accurately conveyed by our words.”
Burbidge also places special responsibility on parents in regard to protecting their children from transgenderism in two particular areas: internet use and the public schools. In regard to the internet and social media, he writes:
“In addition to your good example and teaching, raising your children also requires vigilance against dangerous ideas and influences. This means the close monitoring of what your children receive via the internet and social media. Transgender ideology is being celebrated, promoted, and pushed out over all social media platforms and even children’s programming. Much of your good work and witness can be undone quickly by a child’s unsupervised or unrestricted internet access.”
In regard to the rabid promotion of transgenderism in our public school system, Burbidge urges special vigilance. He writes: “Another strong source of misinformation about the nature of the person, and the meaning of the body is, regrettably, the public education system… Parents with children in public school must therefore discuss specific Catholic teaching on [transgender] issues with their children and be even more vigilant and vocal against this false and harmful ideology.”
By appealing to arguments from Catholic teaching, science, and the significant harms caused by transgenderism, Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington (Virginia) in his Catechesis on the Human Person and Gender Ideology takes a courageous stand for the truth in a culture addicted to the lie. But this is how the Church has always acted when she has been at her finest: speaking Truth to power and serving as a sign of contradiction. Let us thank God that the Church is still producing heroic bishops like Michael Burbidge.
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