Michigan Diocese Says LGBTQ People Must Repent to Receive Several Sacraments

Michigan's Catholic Diocese of Marquette has instructed pastors to block LGBTQ people from receiving several sacraments unless they have "repented."

The diocese released the new guidance in July as a framework for the "pastoral care of persons with same‐sex attraction and persons with gender dysphoria," and some experts believe that it might be the strictest of its kind in the country.

Under the guidance, any person "publicly living in a same‐sex sexual relationship" is not allowed to receive the sacraments of baptism and confirmation "unless the person has repented and withdrawn from the relationship." Additionally, "a person who publicly identifies as a different gender than his or her biological sex or has attempted 'gender transitioning'" is not permitted to receive baptism, confirmation or be fully accepted into the church unless they have repented, the guidance said.

In a statement about the policy released Thursday, the diocese states that while the Church teaches that "experiencing feelings of same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria" is not a sin, "freely acting upon them is."

The Vatican and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have yet to release conclusive guidance on administering sacraments to transgender people. Though the Diocese of Marquette is not the first in the U.S. to designate a policy, some experts told the Washington Post that they believe the Michigan diocese is the first to block transgender people from receiving baptism and confirmation.

The guidance from the Diocese of Marquette also stipulates that transgender people may not receive Communion and that, in most circumstances, they cannot receive the anointing of the sick, which is meant to provide seriously ill people with physical or spiritual healing.

The diocese issued the policy in July, but it only recently sparked a debate after a prominent priest and advocate for LGBTQ Catholics shared it on Twitter, the Washington Post reported.

Patrick Hornbeck, a theology professor at Fordham University, said many Catholic leaders have recently taken to setting lines beyond which they believe it's not possible for a person to be in good standing within the church.

He said the recent debate among the U.S. bishops over whether President Joe Biden and other Catholic politicians who support abortion rights can receive Communion exemplifies that trend.

"The Diocese of Marquette seems to be adding fuel to that particular fire by saying that beliefs about gender and gender transition also fall into that category," Hornbeck said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.