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LGBTQ rights in Vatican City

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LGBTQ rights in Vatican City
Location of Vatican City (green)

in Europe (dark grey)

StatusLegal since 1890, as part of Italy
Gender identityNo
MilitaryNo army
Discrimination protectionsNone
Family rights
Recognition of relationshipsLimited ceremonial rights[1]
AdoptionNo

The legal code regarding LGBT rights in Vatican City is based on the Italian Zanardelli Code of 1889 (effective 1890), since the founding of the sovereign state of the Vatican City in 1929. LGBT people may experience legal difficulties within the nation.

Although Pope Francis (incumbent Sovereign of Vatican City) has expressed support for same-sex civil unions, Vatican City does not currently recognize them.[2][3]

Criminal law

A 2008 protest against the Vatican and the laws against gay people that were in force in the Catholic Church.

Since 1890, Vatican city has had no criminal laws against non-commercial, private, adult and consensual same-sex sexual activity. The age of consent is set at 18 years for all persons, regardless of gender.[4]

Foreign diplomats, in order to be accredited, must not be part of a same-sex family,[5] and must not be divorced.[6] In 2008, Jean-Loup Kuhn-Delforge, who is an openly gay diplomat, and who is in a civil pact with his partner, was rejected by Roman Catholic officials to be the French ambassador to the Holy See. In 2015, Laurent Stefanini, an openly gay practising Catholic diplomat was rejected by Roman Catholic officials to be the French ambassador to the Holy See, despite being single. He was backed by President Francois Hollande and was supported by France's top Curia cardinal, Jean-Louis Tauran, who was the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, and Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris. France kept their ambassador position vacant from March 2015 to May 2016 in protest, before nominating another diplomat in May 2016.[7][8]

Civil rights

Vatican City State does not have any civil rights provisions that include sexual orientation or gender identity.

On 13 January 1998, a member of Arcigay, Alfredo Ormando, set himself on fire in St. Peter's Square in protest of Catholic doctrine around homosexuality. As a result of the severe burns suffered, he died a few days later in hospital.[9][10]

Recognition of same-sex relationships

Vatican City has always expressed disagreement with any civil recognition of same-sex unions, same-sex marriage, and against the granting of adoption rights to same-sex couples.[11]

In March 2021, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a ruling saying it was "not licit" for Catholic priests to bless same-sex marriages.[12][13]

In September 2021, Pope Francis expressed some support for same-sex civil unions, saying that "same-sex civil unions are good and helpful to many".[14][15][16]

In December 2023, Vatican announced that they will allow blessings for same-sex couples, but only under certain circumstances.[1]

Discrimination protections

Krzysztof Charamsa, a homosexual theologian

The Vatican reserves the right to remove, suspend and dismiss immediately any official and employee who publicly admits to being gay or questions the general policy of the Vatican towards homosexuals.[17][18]

On its website, the Vatican states that homosexuals should be treated with respect, and all unjust discriminations against them must be avoided.[19]

Pope Francis, the head of Vatican City stated that parents should never condemn their gay children but offer them support instead. He also said that "gays have a right to be accepted by their families as children and siblings".[20][21]

Krzysztof Charamsa

In October 2015, the coming-out of theologian Father Krzysztof Charamsa ended with his suspension from his priestly duties, teaching positions and posts in the Roman Curia. On the eve of the second session of the Bishop's Synod on the Family, Charamsa was quoted as saying in the Corriere Della Sera, "I want the Church and my community to know who I am: a gay priest who is happy, and proud of his identity. I'm prepared to pay the consequences, but it's time the Church opened its eyes, and realised that offering gay believers total abstinence from a life of love is inhuman."[22]

On gender theory, identity and expression

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. "Being man" or "being woman" is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity "in the image of God". In their "being-man" and "being-woman", they reflect the Creator's wisdom and goodness.[23]

The Vatican has stated that doctors should not use the terms intersex and transgender to refer to patients and other individuals, stating that it would make masculinity and femininity "ambiguous".[24]

In January 2015, Pope Francis called gender studies "ideological colonization" while visiting the Philippines.[25]

In an interview for a book (Pope Francis: The Economy Kills, originally in Italian) published in 2015, Pope Francis compared gender studies to "genetic manipulation" and "nuclear weapons".[26][27]

In the 2016 document "Amoris Laetitia", written by Pope Francis after a Synod involving Catholic bishops from around the world, he wrote that: "It needs to be emphasized that 'biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender) can be distinguished but not separated'."[28]

There are no provisions in the Catechism that prohibit gender transition.[29] However, in June 2019 the Vatican condemned gender studies as a "confused concept of freedom".[30] In a 2019 document issued by the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Vatican warned Catholic educators that ideas of gender fluidity threatened "traditional families" and ignored "natural differences" between men and women.[31]

HIV/AIDS

Main article: Catholic Church and HIV/AIDS

Internationally, the Vatican government has been a leading opponent of the use of condoms as part of any campaign to stop the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.[32][33]

Influence on LGBT laws abroad

In 2021, the Vatican foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, delivered a letter to the Italian ambassador to the Holy See, expressing "concerns" over a bill in the Italian Parliament meant to legally protect LGBT Italians against violence and discrimination. The letter claimed the section of the bill prohibiting incitement of hatred on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity constituted a violation of freedom of speech and of religion, and asked for the draft law's text to be reformulated.[34][35][36]

Summary table

Same-sex sexual activity legal Yes (Since 1890)
Equal age of consent (18) Yes (Since 1890)
Anti-discrimination laws in employment only No (The Holy See reserves the right to remove, suspend and dismiss immediately any employee declaring themselves homosexual or against the position of the Catholic Church on homosexuality)
Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services No
Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech) No
Same-sex marriage No
Recognition of same-sex couples Yes (Since 2023, limited ceremonial rights)[1]
Stepchild adoption by same-sex couples No
Joint adoption by same-sex couples No
Gays, lesbians and bisexuals allowed to serve openly in the Gendarmerie Corps and the Pontifical Swiss Guard No
Right to change legal gender No
Access to IVF for lesbians No
Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples No
Allowed to donate blood N/A There are no hospitals in the Vatican to donate blood at[37], nor any official policy to ban blood donation for homosexuals and or transgender individuals.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Perry, Sophie. "Same-sex couples can be blessed, Vatican says – but there's a catch". PinkNews. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Same-sex civil unions 'good and helpful to many', says Pope Francis". euronews. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Francis becomes 1st pope to endorse same-sex civil unions". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Legge N. VIII: Norme complementari in materia penale, 11 July 2013 (see Article 8(4) and Article 4(a) - for sex within marriage see Article 8(5))" (PDF). Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Vatican blocks appointment of gay diplomat". PinkNews. 2 October 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Vatican accepts Juan Pablo Cafiero as Argentine Ambassador". Wikinews. 28 September 2008.
  7. ^ Heneghan, Tom (16 April 2015). "Hollande stands by his Vatican ambassador". The Tablet.
  8. ^ Heneghan, Tom (16 May 2016). "France ends 15-month stand-off by naming new ambassador to Vatican". The Tablet.
  9. ^ "Man sets himself on fire in Vatican's St Peter's square". BBC News. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  10. ^ Andriote, John-Manuel (15 March 2013). "'Alfredo's Fire' Sure to Spark Discussion About Religion, Homosexuality and the Deadliness of Intolerance". HuffPost. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Considérations à propos des projets de reconnaissance juridique des unions entre personnes homosexuelles". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  12. ^ Elbaum, Rachel. "Vatican says Catholic Church can't bless same-sex unions". NBC News. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  13. ^ Winfield, Nicole (15 March 2021). "Vatican bars gay union blessing, says God 'can't bless sin'". AP NEWS. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  14. ^ Horowitz, Jason (21 October 2020). "In Shift for Church, Pope Francis Voices Support for Same-Sex Civil Unions". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Pope: No same sex marriage, but uphold other rights". AP NEWS. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Same-sex civil unions 'good and helpful to many', says Pope Francis". euronews. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  17. ^ Texte de la lettre sur le site d'Eternal World Television, Global Catholic Network (en anglais).
  18. ^ "Stupeur au Vatican: un théologien fait son coming out... il est viré - Têtu". 17 September 2011. Archived from the original on 17 September 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Considérations à propos des projets de reconnaissance juridique des unions entre personnes homosexuelles". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  20. ^ Pullella, Philip (26 January 2022). "Support your children if they are gay, pope tells parents". Reuters. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  21. ^ "Pope Francis urges parents to 'never condemn' their gay children". ctvnews. Reuters. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  22. ^ Tebano, Elena (3 October 2015). "Vatican Theologian Confesses: 'I'm Happy to Be Gay and I Have a Partner'". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  23. ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church - PART 1 SECTION 2 CHAPTER 1 ARTICLE 1 PARAGRAPH 6". www.scborromeo.org. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  24. ^ Ennis, Dawn. "It's The First Sunday Since The Vatican Rejected Transgender People". Forbes. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  25. ^ McElwee, Joshua J. (19 January 2015). "Francis lambasts international aid, suggests Catholics should limit children". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  26. ^ McElwee, Joshua J. (13 February 2015). "Francis strongly criticizes gender theory, comparing it to nuclear arms". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  27. ^ Lopez, German (20 February 2015). "Pope Francis compared the arguments for transgender rights to nuclear weapons". Vox. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  28. ^ Pope Francis, "Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation: Amoris Laetita," paragraph 56.
  29. ^ "Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ Issues: Roman Catholic Church". Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  30. ^ Pullella, Philip (10 June 2019). "Vatican condemns gender theory as bid to destroy nature". Reuters. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  31. ^ Horowitz, Jason; Povoledo, Elisabetta (10 June 2019). "Vatican Rejects Notion That Gender Identity Can Be Fluid". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  32. ^ Thavis, John (18 March 2009). "CNS STORY: Pope's condom comments latest chapter in sensitive church discussion". webarchive.loc.gov. Archived from the original on 14 April 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  33. ^ Bradshaw, Steve (9 October 2003). "Vatican: condoms don't stop Aids". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  34. ^ Horowitz, Jason (22 June 2021). "Vatican Expresses Deep Reservations Over Gay Rights Bill in Italy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  35. ^ Chico Harlan and Stefano Pitrelli, "Italy is debating an LGBT anti-hate law. The Vatican just took a rare step to protest it," The Washington Post, 22 June 2021.
  36. ^ Allen, John L. (22 June 2021). "Vatican invokes sovereign status to protest anti-homophobia bill". cruxnow.com. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  37. ^ "10 Vatican City Facts You Didn't Know". www.thevaticantickets.com. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
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