By Anthony R. Lusvardi, S.J, FIRST THINGS. (Editor’s note: a helpful Catholic examination of the issues)
(Photo: Margarita Shtyfura/Unsplash)
These are not easy days to be a Catholic pastor. In our age of entitlement and mixed messages, pastors are faced with questions that were unthinkable just decades ago—such as whether transsexuals can be baptized. In a 2023 response to a Brazilian bishop, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith answered that those suffering from “problems of a transgender nature” could receive the sacraments “under the same conditions as other believers.” It warned, however, against the particular “risk of generating public scandal or disorientation among the faithful.” The response affirmed the validity of baptisms performed on transsexuals but left myriad pastoral issues unresolved.
The concept of validity concerns only those elements necessary for an action to satisfy the minimal definition of what a given sacrament is. The necessary elements for baptism are simple: water (the matter) and the baptismal formula (the form). The baptismal formula—I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit—does not depend upon an accurate description of the person’s gender. So calling a he a “she” or a she a “he” does not alter the sacrament’s validity.
The recipient’s free consent and the minister’s intention affect validity. The intention required for valid administration of the sacraments is fairly minimal: to complete the act the Church defines as baptism. One can have all sorts of mixed motives for wanting to baptize or to receive baptism (to boost the parish census or to appease Grandma), but the necessary intention is simply to complete the act itself. In an emergency, even a non-Christian can validly baptize so long as he intends to do what the Church does.
The minimum necessary for validity, however, is a terrible guide for pastoral action. A wicked priest could validly consecrate the Eucharist because he wished to sell the host on eBay, but his act of sacrilege would only blacken the souls of those involved.