(LifeSiteNews) — Two self-identifying “transgender” individuals were “married” in a Catholic church last month after the local priest approved of their candidacy for the sacrament.
On January 28, a so-called “transgender” couple were “married” in a Catholic church belonging to the Archdiocese of Corrientes in Argentina, after completing the standard pre-marriage process in the Church. According to the couple, they received confirmation from a friar, whom they allege himself received confirmation from the archbishop, that there was no canonical impediment to the “marriage” because they are of “different biological sex.”
“We were able to get married because we are of different biological sex,” the supposed “bride,” Solange Ayala, said. “The friar spoke with the archbishop, and he told us there was nothing that could be objected to.”
According to Radio Sudamericana, the couple comprises Solange Ayala, a man who believes he is a woman, and Isaías, a woman who believes she is a man. “We are a trans couple who were able to receive the blessing of the Church,” Solange said. “It is very moving for us, because it allows us to bring people from the LGBT community, and people who believe in and profess the Catholic religion, closer to the Church again.”
Solange explained that the idea of a church wedding initially seemed impossible, adding that the duo then sought information and were told by several people that a particular parish in the Archdiocese of Corrientes, Nuestra Señora de Pompeya, was open to providing a service for those who identify as LGBT.
“We carried out the process like anyone else,” Solange said. “We opened a matrimonial file, went to speak with the friar, and he received us very well. He explained the steps to us, and he himself went to speak with the archbishop.”
Solange added that the friar later informed them that there was no objection to the “marriage” because, in biological terms, they were a man and a woman, and therefore could receive the sacrament of marriage.
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Asked whether similar cases had occurred elsewhere in Argentina, Solange said the only precedent he was aware of involved a “transgender woman” who “married” a man in Patagonia, where the marriage was later annulled because the spouses were of the same sex. Solange also admitted that the priest “gave the blessing with the names we have today” instead of those on their baptismal certificates.
However, the Archdiocese of Corrientes issued an official statement on February 8, clarifying that the ceremony did not meet the canonical requirements for the valid and licit celebration of the sacrament of marriage. The archdiocese stated that Christian marriage, as a sacrament, requires the fulfilment of essential conditions established by canon law, including the presentation of appropriate ecclesiastical documentation, which in this case was entirely absent.
The omission, the statement said, “not only distorts the profound meaning of the sacrament, but can also generate confusion within the community of the faithful.”
The archdiocese announced that Archbishop José Adolfo Larregain, OFM, has initiated investigations and is evaluating the possibility of formal warnings or disciplinary sanctions against the priest responsible for the parish of Nuestra Señora de Pompeya.
Later in the interview with Radio Sudamericana, Solange stated that he was “a little distant from Catholicism … it’s not like I was ultra-Catholic and super devout,” adding that he is “not grateful to the Church” while admitting to being “quite surprised that they took it all so naturally, because in fact, we were so protected in the Church that they kind of avoided us crossing paths with other people who might have made us feel bad, and so on.” The LGBT activist noted that the “marriage” was partly “about making visible the change that this particular religious community wants to make and wants to reach out to the LGBT community.”
Sacred Scripture affirms the created reality of sexual difference as grounded in divine will and not subject to human alteration. God created the human person “male and female” (Gen 1:27), a truth reaffirmed by Christ Himself (Mt 19:4), while elsewhere the Bible reads: “A woman shall not be clothed with man’s apparel, neither shall a man use woman’s apparel: for he that doeth these things is abominable before God” (Deut 22:5).