Vatican to publish document on 'moral questions' regarding human dignity, gender, surrogacy
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Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, pictured here in 2014, took up his new post as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in September 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 2, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).The Vatican's top doctrinal office next week will unveil a new declaration on the theme of human dignity, one that is expected to address a range of contemporary moral issues including gender ideology and surrogacy. The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that the new document, titled Dignitas Infinita ("Infinite Dignity") (On Human Dignity), will be debuted at a press conference held in Rome on April 8.The conference will include presentations by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF); Monsignor Armando Matteo, secretary for the doctrinal section of the DDF; and Professor Paola Scarcella of Rome's Tor Vergata and LUMSA universities. In an interview with the National Catholi...
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, pictured here in 2014, took up his new post as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in September 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Apr 2, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).
The Vatican's top doctrinal office next week will unveil a new declaration on the theme of human dignity, one that is expected to address a range of contemporary moral issues including gender ideology and surrogacy.
The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that the new document, titled Dignitas Infinita ("Infinite Dignity") (On Human Dignity), will be debuted at a press conference held in Rome on April 8.
The conference will include presentations by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF); Monsignor Armando Matteo, secretary for the doctrinal section of the DDF; and Professor Paola Scarcella of Rome's Tor Vergata and LUMSA universities.
In an interview with the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, in early March, Fernández said there had been "several versions" of the text and that it was "almost finished" and would be published in "early April."
The cardinal's comments came after he told Spanish news agency EFE in January that the text would address "not only social issues but also a strong criticism of moral questions such as sex-change surgery, surrogacy, and gender ideology."
In recent months and years Pope Francis has spoken out strongly on these topics. In a January address to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, the pope called surrogacy "deplorable."
In March, meanwhile, the Holy Father labeled transgender ideology as "the ugliest danger" today, one that "seeks to blur differences between men and women."
Since assuming the top spot at the DDF last September, Fernández has faced backlash over the December DDF document Fiducia Supplicans, which allowed for the "spontaneous" (nonliturgical) blessing of same-sex couples as well as those in "irregular" unions.
The Argentine cardinal in his interview with EFE argued that "people who are concerned" about his work will "be put at ease" by the new document.
Since the publication of Fiducia Supplicans, Pope Francis has publicly defended the directive on numerous occasions. In February he argued that individuals who are critical of blessings for homosexuals are guilty of "hypocrisy" if they are not similarly opposed to blessings for certain other types of sinners.
Some of the strongest pushback against Fiducia Supplicans has come from the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) as well as from other Christian leaders with which the Church holds ecumenical dialogue.
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null / Credit: Juthamat8899/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 1, 2024 / 17:05 pm (CNA).The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a new report on Wednesday highlighting the countries with the worst religious persecution in the world.From this report, which is released annually, USCIRF makes recommendations to the State Department on how to best advocate for religious freedom. The suggestions typically translate into sanctions from the U.S. against violating countries to pressure them to improve their religious tolerance. This year, the countries topping USCIRF's list of the world's most egregious religious freedom violators were Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, India, Iran, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.USCIRF recommends these nations be designated as "countries of particul...
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Catholics in the Archdiocese of Baltimore pack the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen during a concluding listening session on the archdiocese's major parish restructuring plan on April 30, 2024. / Credit: Matthew BalanBaltimore, Md., May 1, 2024 / 18:10 pm (CNA).Hundreds of Catholic residents of Baltimore packed the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on Tuesday evening to give their often-impassioned reactions to a process that could lead to the closure of nearly two-thirds of the city's parishes.Several parishes from the state's largest city organized large contingents to attend the April 30 meeting, which was the final of three listening sessions for the Archdiocese of Baltimore's "Seek the City" parish restructuring proposal. They made their presence known with custom-made T-shirts or ethnic attire, with some even carrying large banners that begged Archbishop William Lori to spare their churches.Parishioners from the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in the Mount Washington neighborhood of...