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CNA Staff, Apr 23, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

The German Catholic bishops have published a handout that offers guidance to pastors on blessings for couples in "irregular" situations such as same-sex relationships, urging clergy to use the blessings to "express appreciation" for individuals seeking the recognition from Catholic priests. 

The handout, "Blessings for Couples Who Love Each Other," was distributed earlier this month by the joint conference of members of the German Bishops' Conference (DBK) and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK).

The guidance cites Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican document published in 2023 that was approved by Pope Francis. The German document allows for "blessings" of homosexual couples and other extramarital arrangements. It was first reported on by CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner. 

"Non-church married couples, divorced and remarried couples, and couples in all the diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities are of course part of our society," the bishops wrote, noting that "quite a few of these couples want a blessing for their relationship."

"Such a request is an expression of gratitude for their love and an expression of the desire to shape this love from faith," the document says, calling blessings "an act of the Church, which places itself at the service of divine-human encounter." 

"The Church takes seriously the couple's desire to place their future path in life under God's blessing," the handout claims. "It sees in the request for blessing the hope of a relationship with God that can sustain human life."

"The art and manner of conducting the blessing, the location, the entire aesthetics, including music and singing, are intended to express the appreciation of the people who have asked for the blessing, their togetherness and their faith," the guidance stipulates. 

When published in 2023, Fiducia Supplicans generated widespread international backlash from Church leaders around the world, though some bishops praised the guidance and vowed to allow the blessings in their bishoprics.

The document asserted that Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples as an expression of pastoral closeness without condoning their sexual relations. The declaration emphasized that blessings may only be given "spontaneously" and not in the context of a formal liturgical rite.

Bishops in Europe, Africa, and elsewhere said they would not be permitting priests to perform such blessings. Some bishops in the U.S., meanwhile, said they would implement the guidelines in their dioceses. 

Pope Francis several times defended the document from criticism, arguing that blessings do not require "moral perfection" before they are given.

"The intent of the 'pastoral and spontaneous blessings' is to concretely show the closeness of the Lord and of the Church to all those who, finding themselves in different situations, ask help to carry on — sometimes to begin — a journey of faith," he said last year.

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Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis was brought in solemn procession to St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning, where the late pontiff will lie in state for three days for mourners to pay their final respects and say goodbye.

The Rite of Translation began in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, where Francis lived for the 12 years of his pontificate, and ended with the Holy Father's body before the Altar of Confession in the soaring basilica at the center of Christendom.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 23, 2025 / 12:55 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis, baptized as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, celebrated his patron saint's feast day every April 23. The patron saint's day of the pope is a holiday at the Vatican and Pope Francis usually celebrated it with acts of charity toward people in need.

The patron saint of the late pontiff, St. George, is credited with protecting the papacy and is also known as an intercessor in the fight against evil.

Pope Francis was known to take every opportunity to celebrate special occasions with the poorest, as was also the case on his birthday, when he often invited hundreds of them to dine with him at the Vatican.

In 2018, the Holy Father surprised the world with his unusual gesture of distributing ice cream to the poor of Rome to celebrate St. George's feast day.

On that occasion, with the help of the apostolic almoner, nearly 3,000 servings of ice cream were distributed in the city's soup kitchens. This initiative set the tone for subsequent celebrations of St. George's feast day.

In 2019, Pope Francis gave a 44-pound chocolate Easter egg to the poor who came to the Caritas soup kitchen in central Rome.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, the Holy Father donated 10 ventilators to hospitals in Romania, Italy, and Spain.

Subsequently, on April 23, 2021, Pope Francis visited the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican to greet the more than 600 poor people waiting their turn to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of the Vatican's solidarity vaccination campaign.

It was common for Pope Francis to make these kinds of gestures to the poor of the city of which he was bishop. In fact, a few years ago he ordered the construction of showers in St. Peter's Square as well as a health care center and shelters.

The Holy Father also invited those in need to visit the Vatican Museums, gave them a gala dinner near Piazza Bernini, and even established a special day for them, the World Day of the Poor.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 14:22 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis passed away at 7:35 a.m. local time on Easter Monday, April 21, at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta, as confirmed by the Holy See Press Office. The 88-year-old pontiff led the Catholic Church for a little more than 12 years.

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Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 14:37 pm (CNA).

Thousands of Catholics said their last goodbyes and paid their respects to Pope Francis on Wednesday as the late pope lay in state in St. Peter's Basilica.

Long lines of mourners, many waiting more than four hours under the hot Roman sun, wound around St. Peter's Square on the first day of viewing on April 23. Vatican officials indicated that they might need to extend the basilica's hours past midnight to accommodate the large turnout. 

Many in attendance had initially come to Rome to celebrate Easter or witness the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, only to find themselves part of an unexpected historic farewell.

"The crowds are just packed… but overall it was beautiful," said Arianne Gallagher-Welcher, a pilgrim from Washington, D.C. "You could feel how special it was for everyone … a really nice chance to say goodbye to Pope Francis."

Gallagher-Welcher reflected on the significance of the Jubilee Year of Hope. "We were here during the Jubilee in 2000," she said. "To thank and celebrate the life of Pope Francis during the Jubilee Year of Hope is just an incredible gift."

As people slowly made their way to the basilica, some prayed the rosary while others sang hymns. Once inside, people were able to spend a moment in prayer before the late pope's open casket in front of the main altar and the tomb of St. Peter. 

Clad in red vestments, a bishop's miter on his head, and a rosary clasped in his hands, Francis was watched over in silence by four Swiss Guards standing vigil.

"As we got closer to the body of our Holy Father, it was very emotional to see him," reflected Father Fabian Marquez of the Diocese of El Paso, Texas. "But I'm so grateful for all the great things he did for the community, bringing people together." 

"And my personal prayer was that now he intercedes for the next Peter to come so that the next Peter can lead us where the Lord desires us to go," Marquez said.

Marquez had traveled to Rome with fellow priests for the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis. Their journey took on new meaning with the pope's death.

"Everything changed since the news that our Holy Father had passed," Marquez said. "We decided to continue to come … just to be here with him."

"We were able to pray the rosary with the people and it was very emotional just to be here outside of the basilica today … when they transferred the body from Santa Marta to the basilica," he said.

Monsignor Humberto Gonzalez of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America recalled a personal memory of Pope Francis in 2020, when he concelebrated a Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe together with the pope after the loss of his mother. 

"Before the Mass, he called me to the sacristy. He gave me a hug, he gave me comfort, and he said: 'I will offer the Mass for Carlina, for your mother.' I carry that in my heart."

Gonzalez paid his final respects with other Vatican officials inside the chapel in the pope's Vatican residence before Francis' body was transferred in a solemn procession into St. Peter's Basilica. 

The public viewing in the basilica will continue for three days, concluding Friday at 7 p.m. when the casket will be sealed ahead of the funeral.

The monsignor said that for him it was an opportunity to say: "Thank you, Holy Father. Thank you for all the good, thank you for the gift that was your person. Thank you for giving yourself completely to humanity and for giving us so many teachings."

The significance of the moment extended even to non-Catholics. Jai Agarwal, a 21-year-old American student at John Cabot University in Rome, joined the line to pay his respects. 

"He would always advocate for peace," Agarwal said. "He's one of the few people that just had genuine empathy."

Raissa Fortes, a pilgrim from Brazil, had originally traveled to Italy for the canonization of Acutis but changed her plans upon hearing of the pope's death. 

"It's a mix of feelings," she said. "I'm sad, but at the same time, I'm happy to be here in this special moment."

She added: "When I received the sad news about Pope Francis, my husband and I decided to come earlier to say a last goodbye and be part of this moment with Pope Francis."

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Rome Newsroom, Apr 23, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis ordered that upon his death he would be buried in the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of St. Mary Major). This basilica was very dear to him. Francis, however, will not be the only pope to be buried outside of the Vatican City State.

In the history of the Catholic Church, there have been 266 popes, and only about 30 of them have been buried outside of Rome. 

About 90 popes are buried in St. Peter's Basilica (21 in the Vatican grottoes), 22 in St. John the Lateran, seven in Santa Maria Maggiore, five in Santa Maria sopra Minerva (St. Mary of Minerva), five at the Basilica San Lorenzo fuori le mura (St. Lawrence Outside the Walls), three at St. Paul Outside the Walls, and one in the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles. 

Various factors are at play when it comes to the decision of a burial place. The chosen location may be a basilica the deceased pope is particularly fond of or one that is a symbolically important place. 

Father Roberto Regoli, director of the Department of Church History at the Pontifical Gregorian University, stressed to CNA that "the tradition of burying popes in St. Peter's does not date back to the beginning of Christianity. We know nothing about the burials of the first two centuries."

Regoli pointed out that "the first popes up to the fifth century are buried in the catacombs or some surface monuments. Leo I the Great is the first pope buried in St. Peter's. From that period on, we have burials scattered throughout the churches of Rome, and then from the end of the fifth century until the 10th century, burials mainly at St. Peter's."

Who are the popes not buried at the Vatican? 

Several popes have chosen Roman basilicas for their burial spot. The last was Leo XIII in 1903, who wanted his tomb in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Pope Francis has also instead arranged for his tomb to be in another basilica — the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

Pope Francis chose Santa Maria Maggiore because he had a special connection with the basilica. He prayed before the icon of the "Salus Populi Romani" before and after each apostolic journey. He went there on the first day of his pontificate. The pope — a Jesuit — was tied to this basilica because it was there that St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, celebrated his first Mass.

Pope Francis will not be the first pope to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore, however. The basilica contains the tombs of Honorius III, Nicholas IV, St. Pius V, Sixtus V, Paul V, Clement VIII, and Clement IX. 

The tradition of burying popes in St. Peter's Basilica dates to the fourth century. The Vatican Grottoes and St. Peter's Basilica house the remains of 90 pontiffs.

St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the pope of Rome. It is no surprise that many popes have wanted to be buried there. As noted, the last to be laid to rest there was Leo XIII in 1903, but he is not the only one. The basilica houses the remains of 22 pontiffs.

The remains of two popes are found in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls — Felix III and John XIII — while John XVIII died in 1009 at the basilica's monastery.

The church of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls is the basilica built over the remains of the deacon Lawrence. Blessed Pius IX was very attached to this basilica and was buried there. Four other popes are also buried in the basilica, almost all dating back to the fifth century.

Five popes, including two Medici pontiffs, Leo X and Clement VII, are buried in the Basilica Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, one of most artistically appointed in Rome and the last surviving Gothic church in the city. The church stands in front of the Ecclesiastical Academy, the school that trains the future "ambassadors of the pope," the apostolic nuncios.

Pope Clement XIV is also buried in the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome.

Among the popes who are not buried in Rome, we can name Gregory XII (1406-1415) — the last pope before Benedict XVI to abdicate and who is buried in the Cathedral of Recanati, in the Marche; Benedict XII and John XXII in Avignon; St. Celestine V (who died in 1294 after abdicating) in the Basilica of Collemaggio in L'Aquila and whose tomb was visited by Pope Benedict XVI before his own resignation in 2013; Blessed Gregory X in Arezzo; St. Gregory VII in Salerno; and St. Adeodatus I in Cinto Euganeo, in the Veneto.

Where Pope Francis will be laid to rest 

Pope Francis' decision to rest in Santa Maria Maggiore will change the funeral rite. 

At the end of his funeral, his body will not be taken to the Vatican Grottoes. Instead, it will be brought to Santa Maria Maggiore to be buried, near his beloved icon of the "Salus Populi Romani."

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Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

Having cared for the aging Pope Francis as his personal nurse since 2022, Italian nurse Massimiliano Strappetti was among the few people who saw the Holy Father moments before his death on Easter Monday.

Before being appointed Pope Francis' personal nurse in August 2022, Strappetti was the nursing coordinator for the Vatican's health department. He started working in the Vatican in 2002 after having worked eight years in the intensive care unit of Rome's Gemelli Hospital.

Strappetti's appointment came very soon after he accompanied the Holy Father on a difficult apostolic journey to Canada from July 24–30, 2022. Throughout 2022, the Holy Father struggled with knee problems.

From August 2022 onward, Strappetti would be seen by the pope's side at almost every one of the pontiff's public appearances, including his weekly Wednesday general audiences and Sunday Angelus addresses in Rome and the Vatican as well as on his several apostolic journeys abroad.  

The pope's last words and final greetings were reportedly addressed to Strappetti, the man he trusted to care for him throughout the multiple illnesses and health emergencies he endured in the last years of his life. 

"Thank you for bringing me back to the Square," the pope is reported to have told the nurse. Stappetti, a husband and father known for his generosity toward others, brought the Holy Father in a wheelchair to the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to deliver his final Easter Sunday urbi et orbi address on April 20.

After the blessing, the pope turned to Strappetti for his opinion, asking: "Do you think I can manage it?" before going down to the square to greet the 50,000 people from his popemobile, Vatican News reported. 

The next day, the pope's health began to deteriorate at around 5:30 a.m. on Easter Monday morning. An hour later, the Holy Father made a "gesture of farewell with his hand" to Strappetti before falling into a coma, after suffering a stroke, in his bed in his Casa Santa Marta apartment, Vatican News reported. 

Strappetti closely accompanied the 88-year-old pope during his convalescence in the Vatican by providing round-the-clock care for the pope in his home following his March 23 release from the hospital after 38 days in Rome's Gemelli Hospital.

In an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Dr. Sergio Alfieri, head of the Gemelli Hospital's medical team that cared for the pope, said they followed the pope's clear order, through Strappetti, to "try everything, let's not give up" during two critical moments when they needed to decide whether to continue or stop treatment.  

Prior to working more closely with the Holy Father as his personal health care assistant, Strappetti was among the medical staff who, in the summer of 2021, advised the pope to undergo testing regarding issues with his colon. On July 4 of that year, the Holy Father underwent a three-hour operation that removed part of his colon. 

Later in 2021, following the colon operation and 11-day hospitalization in Gemelli, Pope Francis praised Strappetti as "a man with a lot of experience" who "saved my life," in an interview with Spanish radio station COPE.

"Now I can eat everything, which was not possible before with the diverticula. I can eat everything. I still have the postoperative medications, because the brain has to register that it has 33 centimeters [12 inches] less intestine," the pope quipped in the interview.

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Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 01:12 am (CNA).

Pope Francis passed away at 7:35 a.m. local time on Easter Monday, April 21, at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta, as confirmed by the Holy See Press Office. The 88-year-old pontiff led the Catholic Church for a little more than 12 years.

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Vatican City, Apr 22, 2025 / 17:08 pm (CNA).

With the death of Pope Francis on Monday, the Catholic Church has entered a mourning period, which will include nine days of Masses offered for the repose of his soul known as the "Novendiales."? 

Rooted in ancient Christian and Roman customs, the Novendiales is a period of nine consecutive days dedicated to mourning the death of a pope. The practice dates back centuries, mirroring the ancient Roman tradition of a nine-day funeral rite.

According to Church law, while the mourning period begins immediately upon the pope's death, marking the official start of the "sede vacante,"?or papal interregnum, the Novendiales will begin on the day of the pope's funeral, scheduled for April 26, and will be followed by consecutive days of Masses until May 4.

In the days leading up to the funeral, the late pope's body is placed in state at St. Peter's Basilica, where the faithful can pay their final respects. Pope Francis will lie in state from Wednesday morning until the funeral Saturday morning. 

The funeral: A global farewell 

Between the fourth and sixth day after the pope's death, the papal funeral takes place in St. Peter's Basilica or St. Peter's Square, presided over by the dean of the College of Cardinals, who is currently Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. Pope Francis' funeral will take place on Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. Rome time.

The funeral follows the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, the Vatican's official liturgical text for papal funerals, which was updated at Pope Francis' request in 2024. The late pope's face, his body having been placed in a simple wooden coffin lined with zinc, is covered with a silk veil. 

The ceremony is attended by heads of state, religious leaders, and thousands of faithful from around the world. At the end of the Mass, the traditional antiphon "In Paradisum" is sung, asking for the angels to guide the pope's soul to heaven. 

"May angels lead you into paradise; upon your arrival, may the martyrs receive you and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem. May the ranks of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, the poor man, may you have eternal rest." 

Pope Francis, in accordance with his personal wishes expressed in his final testament, will not be buried in the Vatican grottoes but instead at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a basilica that he visited more than 100 times during his papacy before and after his international trips in devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

The Novendiales? 

The nine-day period of Novendiales Masses begins on the day of the pope's funeral, in accordance with the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis.

Each day, a cardinal chosen by the late pope presides over a requiem Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. Red is the liturgical color for the Novendiales Masses, which follow the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (2024).

While the Masses are open to the public, each day traditionally focuses on a particular group associated with the pope. The day after the funeral, Vatican City residents and employees are typically invited to attend. On the third day, clergy from the Diocese of Rome concelebrate the Mass, and on the seventh day, members of the Eastern Catholic Churches are invited. 

The Holy See Press Office has confirmed that the Mass scheduled to take place in St. Peter's Square for the Jubilee of Teenagers on Sunday morning presided over by Cardinal Pietro Parolin will be the second Novendiales Mass. The following Masses will take place in the afternoon each day until May 4. 

The general congregations 

The mourning period is not only a time of prayer but also of preparation. Throughout the Novendiales, the College of Cardinals gathers daily for general congregations to discuss the Church's next steps. Cardinals under the age of 80, who are eligible to vote in the upcoming conclave, are required to travel to Rome to take part in the election of the next pope. 

The first general congregation can take place as soon as two days after the pope's death. In these initial meetings, the cardinals focus on funeral arrangements and setting a date for the conclave.  

By the eighth general congregation, discussions shift to the broader state of the Church and the major issues facing the Roman Curia. The Vatican has emphasized that no names of papabile — cardinals considered leading candidates to be elected pope — are brought up during these pre-conclave congregations.  

The mourning period concludes with the end of the Novendiales, after which the Church formally begins the process of selecting the next successor of Peter.?The conclave typically begins around the 15th day after the pope's death. 

As the bells of St. Peter's Basilica toll in mourning, Catholics around the world pause to reflect on the life and legacy of Pope Francis. For nearly two weeks, the Church waits before the conclave begins and then waits a little longer for the white smoke to rise from the Sistine Chapel once again, signaling the election of a new pope. 

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 22, 2025 / 17:56 pm (CNA).

During oral arguments Tuesday, most of the justices on the United States Supreme Court appeared sympathetic toward parents in their lawsuit against a Maryland school board that refused to let them opt their children out of coursework that promotes gender ideology.

Catholic, Ethiopian Orthodox, and Muslim parents sued the Montgomery County Board of Education in May 2023 after the body ended its policy of notifying parents of coursework promoting homosexuality and transgenderism and allowing the parents to opt out.

Under the current policy, the school board only permits opt-outs in narrow circumstances, which is mostly related to sexual education in health class. It does not permit opt-outs for coursework that endorses the views that there are more than two genders, that a boy can become a girl, or that homosexual marriages are moral.

Some of the coursework initially introduced in the curriculum was designed to promote these concepts to children as young as 3 years old in preschool.

Eric Baxter, senior counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, represented the parents before the Supreme Court on April 22. He argued the school board's policy violates the First Amendment of the Constitution by "indoctrinating" students about values that conflict with the religious beliefs of his clients.

"There's no basis for denying opt-outs for religious reasons," Baxter said. "... Parents, not school boards, should have the final say on such religious matters."

He said that under the policy, there are "children of an extremely young age being indoctrinated in a topic that's known to be sensitive." He said it's "designed to disrupt students' … thinking on sexuality and gender identity."

Alternatively, the school board's lawyer, Alan Schoenfeld, acknowledged that these concepts are "deeply offensive to some people of faith" but said parents have no First Amendment right to opt children out of "learning about them."

Schoenfeld said "the board wants to teach civility and respect for difference in the classroom" and, through that, "there is obviously an incidental message in some of these books that these life choices and these lifestyles are worthy of respect."

"Incidental messages that these things ought to be normalized and treated with respect, I think, is simply part of the work that the school is doing in cultivating respect in a pluralistic school," he added.

Most justices bothered by forced curriculum

The Republican-appointed justices, who account for six of the nine members of the court, expressed concern with the policy during oral arguments and appeared supportive of parents who want to opt their children out of the coursework.

"I guess I am a bit mystified, as a lifelong resident of the county, how it came to this," Justice Brett Kavanaugh told Baxter during the oral arguments.

Kavanaugh repeatedly grilled Schoenfeld on why the board could not provide opt-outs, noting that the county previously had an opt-out, and "every other school board in the country has opt-outs for all sorts of things."

Schoenfeld said the opt-outs ceased to be feasible because of the high rates of parents opting their children out in some schools and the inability to secure spaces and supervision for all of the children opted out of the coursework.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett noted that some of the instruction materials given to teachers on the subjects are "not just exposure to the idea" but rather a "presentation of the idea as fact."

"It's saying 'this is the right view of the world, this is how we think about things, this is how you should think about things,'" Barrett added. "This is like 'two plus two is four.'"

"We have the books being read in the classroom," she said. "It's not mere exposure."

Barrett pressed Schoenfeld on numerous support materials given to teachers to help instruct students on these matters, which included telling the children that "people of any gender can like whoever they like" and that "when we're born, people make a guess about our gender and label us 'boy' or 'girl' based on our body parts — sometimes they're right; sometimes they're wrong." 

"So it was part of the curriculum to teach them that boys can be girls or that your pronouns can change depending on how you feel one day to the next," Barrett said. "That was part of the goal?"

Schoenfeld said the materials "are to help a teacher answer a student's questions" and to explain concepts like homosexuality and transgenderism but argued that the material is not a "script" and that children are not forced to affirm those statements.

At one point during oral arguments when Schoenfeld argued that the children do not have to agree with the material in the book or the statements by teachers, Chief Justice John Roberts interjected to say: "Is that a realistic concept when you're talking about a 5-year-old?"

Justice Samuel Alito specifically referenced one of the books, called "Uncle Bobby's Wedding," which he said "has a clear moral message" promoting a homosexual marriage and a scene in which the mother of a girl instructs her: "You shouldn't have any reservations about this."

"The book has a clear message and a lot of people think it's a good message and maybe it is a good message, but it's a message that a lot of people that hold on to traditional religious beliefs don't agree with," Alito said. "I don't think anybody can read that and think, 'Well this is just telling children that there are occasions when men marry other men.'"

Justice Neil Gorsuch expressed concern that the coursework is "being used in English language instruction at age 3," adding that it appears to be designed "to influence students."

Schoenfeld suggested it is only meant to influence the children on "civility."

Where to draw the line

Some of the justices who were appointed by Democrats, which are three of the nine members, expressed concerns about constitutionalizing the issue and that acknowledging a broad constitutional right for opt-outs could produce lawsuits on a variety of subjects.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, for example, said there are "a lot of sincerely held beliefs" and asked Baxter whether an "opt-out" proclamation from the Supreme Court could apply to a student objecting to having a transgender classmate or a gay teacher displaying a photo of his same-sex wedding. 

"This is not just about books," Jackson said. "This is about exposure to people of different sexual orientations and the sincerely held objection that children shouldn't be exposed to this."

Baxter said, however, that a student cannot tell a teacher what to say or object to a transgender classmate under the "opt-out" policies that his clients are requesting.

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