Pope condemns gender theory’s ‘ugly ideology’ – the idea that you can adopt whatever gender you want – saying it is ‘eliminating humanity’

Pope Francis warned on Friday of the dangers of the so-called gender theory, saying he had commissioned research into what he condemned as an “ugly ideology” that threatens humanity.

Addressing participants at a two-day conference at the Vatican on the evolving roles of men and women according to Christian teaching, Francis said what he called “gender ideology” was a threat because it sought to erase the difference between the sexes.

He said: ‘It is very important that there is this meeting, this encounter between men and women, because today the greatest danger is gender ideology.

‘I asked for research into this ugly ideology of our time, which erases differences and makes everything the same. Erasing differences is erasing humanity.

‘The elimination of differences means the elimination of humanity.’

Gender theory, often called gender ideology, suggests that gender is more complex and fluid than the binary categories of male and female, and depends on more than just visible sex characteristics.

At the conference on the topic of marriage and faith, the leader of the Catholic Church warned of a “dystopian” future.

The 87-year-old pope said he was still suffering from a recent cold and had asked an aide to read his speech, but first wanted to “underline” his feelings about gender ideology.

He said he remembered reading a “prophetic” book called “Lord of the World” – a dystopian novel published in 1907 by a Catholic priest about a world where religion has no place – which warned of the risk that differences between people are eliminated.

“Read it if you have time, because it is about today’s problems,” the Pope told his visitors.

The Argentine Pope has repeatedly spoken out against gender theory, also known as gender ideology, which is broadly the idea that you do not have to conform to the gender you were born with, and that gender is a product of societal norms, not purely of biology. .

The Pope condemned gender theory as an ‘ugly ideology’ that could ‘destroy humanity’

He warned of a “dystopian” future, referring to a book he read about a world without religion

In 2019, the Vatican published an educational document intended to help teachers in Catholic schools counter ideas that “deny the natural difference between men and women.”

This comes just a few months after the Vatican announced that transsexuals can be baptized even if they have undergone hormone therapy or gender reassignment surgery.

It said: ‘If there are no situations where there is a risk of public scandal or confusion among the faithful’.

The Vatican also said the children of homosexual couples should be baptized, even if born to a surrogate mother, provided there is a reasonable hope that they will be educated in the Catholic faith.