I do not like Pope Francis. While he’s been staunch on abortion, when it comes to many other things, he’s worked hard to have the Church Eternal bend to the ideas of leftism. This isn’t surprising given that he’s a product of the communist Liberation Theology movement that swept the Latin American church when he worked there, but the fact that it’s not surprising doesn’t mean we should like it. Most recently, Francis has seemingly been trying to normalize so-called transgenderism. His latest push in that direction occurred when he invited a busload of 44 so-called transgender people to the Vatican.

The Bible is very clear that there are only two sexes. According to the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition of Genesis 5:1, “Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them ‘Humankind’ when they were created.” Indeed, Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” was a lecture series that was published as a book, entitled Man and Woman He Created Them. One of the points that Pope John Paul made is that male and female are the only two sexes, and they are complementary.

Man and woman, male and female…according to Catholic doctrine, that’s it. Of course, we can acknowledge the fact that there are people who reject this religious (and biological) reality, whether because of mental illness or dangerous sexual fetishism and perversion. However, their beliefs cannot or, at least, should not change a core tenet of the Christian faith.

Image: So-called transgender women heading to dine with the Pope. YouTube screen grab.

As the world’s leading Christian figurehead, one would think that Pope Francis would emphasize this point, namely, that there are only men and women, although we can feel compassion for those who are misguided—and I assume, try to warn away from eternal punishment those who have vile fetishes, especially when they visit them on children or other innocents. I’ll admit, though, that as to this latter point, I’m a bit hazy on Catholic doctrine.

Instead, though, the Pope has chosen to elevate transgenderism, just as leftists do. In July, he told a transgender person, “God loves us as we are.” That implies that God has accepted the existence of an infinite variety of genders that He did not create, which strikes me as complete nonsense. God may love the individual, but the pastor’s job is to help that individual escape the irreligious and non-biological delusion that impairs his or her life and imperils his or her soul.

For that same reason, to my non-Catholic way of thinking, there’s something wrong with the Pope’s recent announcement that so-called transgender people can serve as godparents. How can people who reject a foundational religious principle be children’s spiritual mentors?

The most recent elevation of transgenderism is the Pope’s decision to invite 44 so-called transgender people to dine at the Vatican:

A group of transgender women with a history of personally interacting with the Pontiff were invited to join 1000 other poor and homeless guests for lunch to mark the Catholic Church’s World Day of the Poor. The women were treated like VIPs, with one, a former sex worker, seated at the table with the Pope.

As a student of history, I understand and greatly appreciate the church’s millennia-old commitment to the poor and downtrodden. But since when did it become appropriate for the Pope to embrace not just the sinner but also the sin, no matter how egregious?