The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has clarified doubts about whether transgender and homosexual persons can be godparents, witnesses at Catholic marriages and be baptized.
The Vatican published this document in response to the doubts presented by Bishop José Negri of Brazil.
GODPARENTS OR WITNESSES AT WEDDINGS:
The Dicastery says there is nothing in current universal canon law that forbids transgender and homosexual persons who live together from being witnesses to Catholic marriages.
The document also references the Code of Canon Law regarding whether they can be godparents at baptisms. In order to be a godfather or godmother, one must have
“…capacity for this mission and intention to carry it out.”
and it is necessary that the person chosen as a sponsor
“leads (…) a life congruent with the faith and with the mission he/she is going to assume.”
In this sense, homosexual and transgender persons could be a baptismal godparent. The same applies in the case of those who
“…have undergone hormone treatment and gender reassignment surgery.”
The Doctrine of the Faith also says pastoral prudence should be used in the assignment of godparents to avoid situations, like same-sex couples living together, that could lead to:
“Dangers of scandal, of undue legitimization or of disorientation in the educational sphere of the ecclesial community.”
The Dicastery also applies this to the case of baptism for adult transgender persons. It says they can be baptized but that attention should be paid to the
“… objective moral situation in which a person finds himself.”
HOMOSEXUAL COUPLES WITH CHILDREN
The document also responds to whether a homosexual couple can be listed as parents of a child to be baptized, even if the child was born through surrogacy.
The Dicastery's response focuses on the child's right to be baptized:
“For a child to be baptized there must be a well-founded hope that he or she will be educated in the Catholic religion.”
The document once again recalls articles of the Code of Canon Law. These insist that in order to baptize a child it is important that at least one of the child's parents desires the baptism. The law uses the word "parents" in a broad sense, including whoever is legally responsible for the child and not necessarily the biological parents.
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