THE VATICAN has released a document which ultimately refutes the idea that gender is anything but an objective, binary concept, but has left itself open for dialogue.
The document entitled ‘Male and Female: He Created Them: Towards a path of dialogue on the question of gender in education’ - (Snappy right?) - has been released to try and tackle the issue of growing pushes from the LGBT community to teach gender theory to children and has discussed the response Catholic schools should have to the changing societal landscape.
Effectively, the Roman Catholic Church has indicated that it unequivocally rejects gender ideology that denies the intrinsic biological difference between men and women, or that treats gender as something that people choose for themselves.
There's growing pressure on schools to promote the idea of gender theory and gender ideologyPope Franics, who has in the past been fairly relaxed around issues of gender and sexuality, is quoted in the document saying that gender theory “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.”
Francis also said that 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,” he added.
Pope Francis has said that while he's keen for the Church to keep an open dialogue on such issue, gender theory is dangerous for childrenThe Pope has also said previously that this kind of ideology is harmful to children and can be an attack on families.
The document goes on to describe the current social climate surrounding gender issues as a “an educational crisis”.
It argues, however, that issues of gender may exist so that people have the opportunity to “achieve a deeper understanding of the way in which sexual difference between men and women is lived out in a variety of cultures,” and insists that the Catholic Church should remain open “to listen, reason and propose”.
