2 weeks Ago By By Jack Suntrup St. Louis Post-Dispatch
JEFFERSON CITY — The Archdiocese of St. Louis on Tuesday criticized comments from a priest who spoke out against legislation to extend limits on health care for gender transition to minors. The Rev.
Mitch Doyen, pastor of St. Josephine Bakhita parish in the city of St. Louis, said Monday night that he believes in a loving God “who has fashioned each human person as a unique reflection of God’s love in the world.
“I am not afraid to imagine a world more profound than male and female,” he said during a hearing that stretched about eight hours. “And I trust the parents, the families, the doctors, the counselors — all who love our transgender youth — to make these decisions more than you.” On Tuesday, the Archdiocese of St.
Louis sent a statement to the Post-Dispatch, which had posted video of Doyen’s testimony, saying that Doyen was speaking on his own behalf and that his comments did not accurately reflect church teaching. “The Catholic Church consistently reaffirms the compassion and inherent dignity of all men and women, including those who experience gender dysphoria,” the statement said. “We do not discriminate against anyone based on how they identify or what they believe.
“However, our pastoral care and support of individuals who identify as transgender does not mean that we condone chemical treatment or surgical procedures that are designed to alter the appearance of one’s gender,” the statement said. “The Church has been consistent on this issue, and any suggestion to the contrary is a misrepresentation.” Doyen could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Missouri’s current law, which prevents minors from receiving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, is set to expire in August 2027. Republican bills would get rid of the expiration date. Doyen testified against those bills Monday.
Before Doyen’s testimony, Guillermo Villa Trueba, a lobbyist with the Missouri Catholic Conference, representing the state’s four dioceses, had testified in favor of the bills . State Rep. Brad Christ, R-south St.
Louis County, asked Doyen about the disconnect between him and the Catholic Church. “Fear is everywhere,” Doyen responded. “It’s everywhere in the Catholic Church.
“If you could have a cup of coffee with each bishop in the United States, there’s a — there’s a disconnect among them,” Doyen said. “I’m not saying change church teaching,” he continued. “Church teaches chastity.
Church teaches the dignity of the human person. The church teaches the value of the sacrament of marriage and the beauty of a love between man and woman that reveals God’s love in the world. All of that is true.
But why then, because all of that is true, do we have to say that nothing else can be true? “The church is still learning, still growing,” he said. Doyen, at the beginning of his comments Monday, said the bills were “dehumanizing our brothers and sisters.” He said he has known and befriended transgender youth and adults.
“Their desire to live fully human, authentic, grace-filled and gifted lives in our community is a profound blessing for us,” he said..
