Father Gerald Murray told Newsmax transgender persons must "repent" before they can be baptized.
Murray, pastor of the Church of the Holy Family, in New York City made his comments Friday in an interview on "National Report."
On Wednesday, the Vatican released a statement, saying it's permissible, under certain circumstances, for trans Catholics to be baptized and serve as godparents.
But Murray said: "It's a very confusing document because they're saying that they have to live under the conditions that all the faithful have to do. But if you claim to be a transgender person, that means you're not content with the way you were born. You're a male. You think you're a female or vice versa. That goes against God's Providence and the nature of creation. Male and female He created them.
"So, if they're going to repent, and therefore they need to renounce the pretense that they're not the sex they were born, the problem would arise if a man dresses up like a woman, and then comes to church and says, 'I want to be baptized, and then I want you to call me Mrs., I want you to call me Miss,' and we'll say, 'Well, you're not a Miss or Mrs., you're a man.'
"That plan is even more troubling in some way because if godparents are supposed to model Christian life for the person who is the godchild, how can you model Christian life if you're pretending to be what you're not?
"Transsexual people like to say, 'You know, the Catholic Church is behind the times. Now they're catching up.' I'm afraid if this practice turns into men dressed as women serving as godmothers, then we're going to have a real confusion in the church."
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Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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