Should the filiation of the child of a same-sex couple be entered in the baptism registers? What to do when the sex of a baptized person changes in the civil status? To guide priests faced with practical situations on which canon law does not pronounce, the archbishopric of Freiburg, in Baden-Württemberg (southwest Germany), regulated them locally in a decree published on Tuesday. 9 August and which will come into force on 1er January 2023.
Thus, during the baptism of the child of a civilly married homosexual couple, if one of his parents is his biological parent, he will be registered as such in the parish registers. The other (or, if applicable, both) will be noted as “person having custody”, like the adoptive parents in a heterosexual couple. In cases of surrogate motherhood (GPA), it will be necessary to refer to the Archiepiscopal Office of Friborg for an individual decision.
“Law follows life”
Baptized transgender people who will change sex in the civil register, whether or not they have an operation, will see their official sex indicated in the margin of the baptismal certificate, without their birth sex being crossed out. As for intersex people, that is to say whose sexual characteristics do not correspond to the binary definitions of the male and female bodies, they may be registered in the baptismal registers without mention of sex or with the indication “various”. pending possibly a clarification recognized by the State.
“Law follows life, argued the judicial vicar of Fribourg, Thorsten Weil, with the online media Katholisch.de. It was simply necessary to make legal provisions that react to this evolution of society, especially since state law gives directives in this direction. » He insisted on the fact that these legal provisions remained within the framework of the doctrine of the Church and did not call into question the general condition governing the choice to baptize a child, according to canon law: the existence of a “founded hope that the child will be educated in the Catholic religion”.
Report a fact
Fact, “canon law gives scattered answers that do not answer all the current questions”believes Father Ludovic Danto, Dean of the Faculty of Canon Law of the Catholic Institute of Paris (ICP), asked by The cross. The registration of homosexual couples in the baptism registers does not pose a problem in the eyes of the specialist: “A register is not a profession of faith: it only reports a fact”he explains, distinguishing the registration in the registers of the accompaniment of homosexual people, “a pastoral decision”. “To transcribe filiation in a register does not mean that the Church approves the moral life of the family, continues Father Danto. It’s just to prove the identity of people. »
At the end of 2018, the Conference of Bishops of France went in the same direction by proposing to the bishops to replace on baptism certificates the line “son/daughter of” by “surnames and first names of parents or other holders of parental authority “, in order to “take into account legal situations where the old formula is no longer appropriate”then explained to The crossMgr Joseph de Metz-Noblat, bishop of Langres (Haute-Marne), at the origin of this recommendation. He mentioned both children adopted by homosexual couples and those entrusted by the courts to third parties. But not all the dioceses have adopted this new formulation, proof that the question is highly sensitive in France.
“A real demand”
The number of homoparental families wishing to have their children baptized is difficult to estimate, but “there is a real demand”notes Cyrille de Compiègne, spokesperson for the LGBTI + Christian association David & Jonathan. “We would like both parents to be recognized in their own right, and not just as holders of parental authority. But there are the ideal and the possibilities of liturgical arrangement. »
The Church of France has not so far considered the registration of intersex and transgender people in the baptism registers. “It is desirable for the Church to think about these issues, which are emerging, but we fear that this exposes transgender people to more discrimination”continues Cyrille de Compiègne, reporting that David & Jonathan is regularly approached by transgender people who wish to be baptized but are afraid of rejection, or by Catholics who change sex and seek to have the registers changed.
“The case of transgender people is more complicated, because the change of sex questions the way in which the Church thinks about the relationship between man and woman”, comments Father Danto. Would Friborg’s decision therefore be out of the nails? Not necessarily : “It’s not the same thing if you cross out the act and if you just add an annotation in the margin, as in Fribourg”shades the priest.
Germany: in Freiburg, the baptism registers evolve to represent LGBTI families