Transgender and communion?

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Would it be okay for a transgender person to receive communion??? I couldn’t find anything in cannon law about this topic
 
The Church hasn’t really said anything about trans people in general.
 
One who is in a State of Sanctifying Grace without any stain of Mortal Sin on their soul may receive Communion. That means that if so much as a Sunday Mass has been missed (without valid reason) and not confessed, no communion can be received.

I would assume that most who would assume such labels are not in states of grace.
 
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DignumEtJustum said:
I would assume that most who would assume such labels are not in states of grace.
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Are you sure about that? You’d be surprised to know how many people don’t know the rules of the church…

Many Catholics don’t even know that one must refrain from communion when in mortal sin…

Some Catholics don’t even know what a mortal sin is…
 
None of this changes the rules. Yes, many, if not most Catholics are likely receiving communion unworthily these days; that was once me. Your point? You still asked the question and were given the answer.
 
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DignumEtJustum said:
None of this changes the rules. Yes, many, if not most Catholics are likely receiving communion unworthily these days; that was once me. Your point? You still asked the question and were given the answer.
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So your saying that it’s a rule in the church that transgenders are to refrain from receiving communion??
 
johnjacob2004 said:
So your saying that it’s a rule in the church that transgenders are to refrain from receiving communion??
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One who is in a State of Sanctifying Grace without any stain of Mortal Sin on their soul may receive Communion.
 
I guess it depends on whether they are in a state of mortal sin. (or haven’t fasted for an hour before receiving Communion)
 
Given that both men and women can receive would it really make a difference.
 
johnjacob2004 said:
So your saying that it’s a rule in the church that transgenders are to refrain from receiving communion??
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No.
If a person is in a state of grace then they can receive Communion.
“Transgender” applies to a very wide variety of people. If someone simply has feelings that they are the other gender, without doing anything such as surgery to alter their birth gender, and without having any sex outside of a valid marriage, then they have arguably not committed any sin that would take them out of the state of grace.
 
I know a cross-dresser at church. He is a man but wears women’s clothing.

I don’t know what he does or does not do, but most of the people seem to really like him. He attends the charismatic prayer group.

I don’t know much else about him.
 
I too have seen people at church who appear to be cross-dressed.
I try not to assume anything about them because I am also aware of a person who was born a hermaphrodite, attended a particular Catholic church that one of my family also attended, and was the organist there. I know the person is a hermaphrodite because they are an artist/ entertainer and publicly mentioned it in magazine interviews when promoting their latest tours, recordings etc.

There are also people who are not interested in changing their gender, but have hormonal imbalances causing them to take on some physical characteristics of the other gender.
So for all those reasons, I don’t make assumptions about people.
 
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Having gender dysphoria does not preclude one from receiving the Eucharist. Physically trying to change one’s gender however, is likely grave matter. Also, if someone is involved in LBGT pride marches, that would be grave matter as it is promoting committing sin.
 
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You have to wonder sometimes whether the parents are baiting the Church by having their kids pull these stunts. Something similar happened in Indiana last year; I can’t remember if it was for Communion or Confirmation, but the policy was: girls in white dresses, boys in suits. But of course a girl showed up in a suit and short, spiked hair, and was denied. Then the mother makes a big stink out of it.

Human beings no longer know how to humble themselves before God.
 
I was just sitting here thinking on that…not just the parents but other enemies of the Church also…

It is a hard thing to hear “no” for some people, they want to stomp their foot and say “that is not fair”…but we are talking about the Eucharist here…

Pope Benedict,

In a speech at the Vatican on Dec. 23, 2008, Benedict directly addressed transgender issues by cautioning Catholics about ‘destroying the very essence of the human creature through manipulating their God-given gender to suit their sexual choices.’”

Pope Francis has addressed this also…

“It is one thing to be understanding of human weakness and the complexities of life, and another to accept ideologies that attempt to sunder what are inseparable aspects of reality. Let us not fall into the sin of trying to replace the Creator. We are creatures, and not omnipotent. Creation is prior to us and must be received as a gift. At the same time, we are called to protect our humanity, and this means, in the first place, accepting it and respecting it as it was created.”
― Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia: Apostolic Exhortation on the Family

From Laudato Si’
  1. Human ecology also implies another profound reality: the relationship between human life and the moral law, which is inscribed in our nature and is necessary for the creation of a more dignified environment. 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”.120 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”.121
Canon law is clear…

Can. 915 Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.

Can. 916 A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.
 
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AZ42 said:
Also, if someone is involved in LBGT pride marches, that would be grave matter as it is promoting committing sin.
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Not necessarily and it depends what “involvement” they had. They would need to speak individually to their priest. You cannot make a blanket statement that any “involvement” in a Pride event automatically places a person in mortal sin.
 
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