Transsexual Marriage – in Catholic Church

In Italy, a Catholic priest has blessed in church a transsexual marriage. From the Independent Online:

A priest in Italy on Sunday blessed the marriage of a 64-year-old transsexual to her 58-year-old male partner, in defiance of Vatican guidelines, the ANSA news agency reported. Sandra Alvino – who underwent a sex change more than 30 years ago – and Fortunato Talotta had been in a civil partnership for 25 years before tying the knot in a religious ceremony in Piagge, an industrial suburb of Florence. Father Alessandro Santoro gave his blessing to the marriage, which was attended by some 200 people

Does this mean that gay marriage is out, but transsexual in? Not exactly. It will be no surprise that the Vatican has objected. What may well come as a surprise, is that the official objections came before the ceremony :

Former Florence archbishop Cardinal Ennio Antonelli had blocked an attempt by Alvino and Talotta to marry two years ago, and his successor Giuseppe Betori later also asked Santoro not to bless their union, ANSA reported.

But the priest went ahead anyway:

Transgender Virgin Calendars

A new calendar featuring pictures of the Madonna and child for each month has been prepared for next year.  This is hardly new – religious themed calendars have always been freely available, in many variations. This Spanish interpretation though, is a new variation likely to to enrage many traditionalists – and also disturb others. The Madonnas are represented as transgendered women.

September

From  Blabbeando :

A calendar released by an LGBT rights organization in Spain is raising some eyebrows for its use of religious imagery in what is a predominately Catholic country.
The 2010 calendar, which had an initial pressing of 10,000 copies, shows settings that mimic religious paintings and features transgender models dressed like the Virgin Mary.

Transgendered in Church, Again.

I was moved by this story of the reception given to screening in a church hall of a documentary by an out, trans film maker about her experience and that of her family:

“This is the very first time our film has been in this community, ”  said Carol McKerrow, the mother of the three children portrayed in the movie. “In absolutely every way, the reception has been supportive and embracing and absolutely overwhelming.”

To understand the concerns one must understand the movie.  The screening of “Prodigal Sons“, directed and co-produced by Reed, follows a family of three children.

The oldest, Marc, suffered atraumatic injury in a car crash and has struggled ever since with mental illness. The youngest son, Paul, is gay while the middle child, formerly Pat McKerrow – a star quarterback for the 1975 Helena Bengal football team – returned to Helena as a woman after attending film school at the University of California Berkely.

Transgendered in Church

While helping out at our Catholic stall after this year’s Pride parade through London, I was approached by a woman who put a question that left me totally at a loss on how to respond:  What is the Church’s position on transgendered issues? She told me that her own local parish priest was very understanding and supportive, but she wanted to know more. I was embarrassed and ashamed that I clearly knew less than she did – she at least had been discussing the issue with a priest, but I in effect knew virtually nothing, beyond the harsh words of Benedict XVI in his Curial address last Christmas.