October 1, 2024
October 1, 2024 (Washington) — Destructive gender ideology has taken hold in modern society. How can pastors and pastoral ministers help families respond as this ideology rears its head at home and in school?
EPPC’s Person and Identity Project provides a comprehensive response to that question with the release of the book, Gender Ideology and Pastoral Practice: A Handbook for Catholic Clergy, Counselors, and Ministerial Leaders.
“One of the difficulties faced by clergy, pastoral workers, and parents has been a shortage of resources that consider the ‘ripple effect’ of gender ideology—the harm to children’s health, the damage to family relationships, the deconstruction of children’s understanding of the reality of their sexual identity, and corrosive effect on catechesis.”
—EPPC Fellow Theresa Farnan
The book was designed to assist Catholics doing pastoral work and ministering to children and families by providing a comprehensive overview of gender ideology, surveying what it is, how it affects families, and, most importantly, how the Church can help.
The editors of and contributors to the work have been fielding questions on this topic for over a decade. Collectively, they have worked with dioceses, parishes, and families to respond to some of the most pressing questions, including:
- What is a gender transition?
- What does the Church teach on this issue?
- How should we respond when a school child tells us he or she is non-binary?
- What is the appropriate way for the Church to help and support families when their children say they are transgender?
- How do we navigate sacraments and pastoral care?
- How did we get here?
In addressing questions such as these, the contributors seek to prepare clergy and lay pastoral ministers to understand and be responsive to the issues that arise in a parish or parochial school setting when someone asserts a “gender identity” that does not align with his or her bodily sex.
The handbook can be purchased here.
The work was edited by Theresa Farnan, Susan Selner-Wright, and Robert L. Fastiggi.
Contributing authors to the handbook include:
- Dr. Jane Adolphe – Ave Maria Law School
- Fr. Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R. (D.Min., Th.D., S.T.D.) – St. Mary’s Seminary & University
- John Bursch, J.D. – Alliance Defending Freedom
- Perry J. Cahall, Ph.D. – Pontifical College Josephinum
- Dr. Emily Dowdell, Psy.D. – Ruah Woods Institute
- Fr. Scott Giuliani – Diocese of Belize City-Belmopan
- Fr. Carter Griffin, S.T.D. – St. John Paul II Seminary
- Mary Rice Hasson, J.D. – Ethics and Public Policy Center
- Paul W. Hruz, M.D., Ph.D. – Archdiocese of St. Louis
- Dcn. Patrick W. Lappert, M.D. – Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama
- Fr. Piotr Mazurkiewicz – Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University
- Frank J. Moncher, Ph.D. – Diocese of Arlington
- Fr. Peter F. Ryan, S.J., S.T.D. – Sacred Heart Major Seminary
- Fr. Kyle Schnippel – Courage International
- Andrew Sodergren, Psy.D. – Ruah Woods Institute
- Fr. Francis Tiso, Ph.D. – Diocese of Isernia-Venafro, Italy
- Michael Trueman, M.Div., J.C.L. – Archdiocese of Detroit
- Joe Zalot, Ph.D. – National Catholic Bioethics Center
This project was made possible with support from The Catholic Information Center, the International Catholic Jurists Forum, and Ave Maria School of Law.
Media Inquiries:
Hunter Estes
Director of Communications
Ethics and Public Policy Center
[email protected]
