U.S. Catholic bishops formalize ban on gender-transition care in Catholic hospitals and oppose mass deportation in a unified immigration stance.
Newsroom (13/11/2025 Gaudium Press ) In a landmark decision, U.S. Catholic bishops voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to formalize a ban on gender-transition care for transgender patients in Catholic hospitals, cementing a yearslong effort to address transgender health care within the nation’s largest religious health care network. The decision, made during the bishops’ annual fall assembly in a Baltimore hotel ballroom, revises the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, which guide thousands of Catholic health care institutions and providers across the United States.
The Catholic Health Association, representing a sector that treats more than one in seven U.S. patients daily, noted that Catholic hospitals are often the sole medical providers in some communities. The revised directives, which prohibit hormonal, psychological, and surgical treatments aimed at altering sexual characteristics, formalize a conservative stance already adopted by most Catholic health care institutions. Bishops retain autonomy to implement these directives as law within their dioceses.
“With regard to the gender ideology, I think it’s very important the church makes a strong statement here,” said Bishop Robert Barron of the Winona-Rochester diocese in Minnesota during public discussions. The guidelines incorporate a 2023 U.S. bishops’ doctrinal note, “Moral Limits to the Technological Manipulation of the Human Body,” which explicitly bans interventions that “aim to transform the sexual characteristics of a human body into those of the opposite sex.” A 2024 Vatican document on gender identity further informs the revisions.
The Catholic Health Association expressed gratitude for the bishops’ inclusion of its feedback, emphasizing in a statement that Catholic providers will continue to welcome transgender patients with “dignity and respect, which is consistent with Catholic social teaching and our moral obligation to serve everyone, particularly those who are marginalized.”
Progressive Voices Challenge the Ban
The decision has sparked debate within and beyond the Catholic Church, which is not monolithic on transgender issues. Progressive Catholic voices, including those from New Ways Ministry, an advocacy group for LGBTQ+ inclusion, argue that gender-transition care can be a spiritual and biological necessity. Michael Sennett, a transgender man active in his Massachusetts parish and a New Ways Ministry board member, said, “Catholic teaching upholds the invaluable dignity of every human life, and for many trans people, gender-transition care is what makes life livable.”
Francis DeBernardo, the group’s executive director, added that for many transgender Catholics, “the transition process was not just a biological necessity, but a spiritual imperative” to live authentically as God intended. In 2024, New Ways Ministry facilitated a meeting with Pope Francis to advocate for gender-transition care, highlighting internal church tensions.
Meanwhile, major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, endorse gender-transition care as evidence-based and medically necessary for many transgender individuals. The bishops’ decision places Catholic hospitals at odds with these standards, potentially limiting care options in regions dependent on Catholic facilities.
On the same day, leaders of progressive denominations, including the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Episcopal Church, the Union for Reform Judaism, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), issued a joint statement affirming transgender, intersex, and nonbinary individuals. “Our beloveds are created in the image of God – Holy and whole,” they declared, countering the “disgraceful misconception” that faith communities universally reject gender diversity, especially amid state and federal policies restricting transgender rights under the Trump administration.
Bishops Unite on Immigration
In a separate but equally significant move, the bishops concluded their conference by issuing a rare “special message” on immigration, a pastoral statement not seen since 2013, when they responded to the Obama administration’s contraception mandate. The statement, approved overwhelmingly, addresses growing fears among Catholic communities amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, which has suppressed Mass attendance in some parishes and limited detained immigrants’ access to sacraments.
“We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement,” the bishops wrote, expressing sadness over “the vilification of immigrants” and concern about detention center conditions and lack of pastoral care. The statement calls for comprehensive immigration reform and a “meaningful path” for immigrants.
Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, newly elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, emphasized the statement’s importance “for the good of our immigrant brothers and sisters” and its balanced approach. Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich successfully advocated for stronger language, resulting in an explicit opposition to “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people,” a direct response to current policy debates.
A Church at a Crossroads
The dual actions on gender-transition care and immigration underscore the U.S. Catholic Church’s complex role in contemporary social issues. While the bishops project unity in opposing mass deportation and affirming Catholic social teaching, the ban on gender-transition care highlights divisions within the church and its divergence from mainstream medical consensus. As Catholic hospitals navigate these directives, transgender patients and immigrant communities alike will feel the ripple effects, particularly in underserved regions where Catholic facilities are lifelines.
The bishops’ decisions, rooted in doctrinal clarity and pastoral concern, reflect a church striving to balance its moral teachings with its mission to serve all, even as it faces criticism from both progressive faithful and secular society. For now, the U.S. Catholic Church has staked its ground, leaving the faithful to grapple with the implications.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now
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