Bishops demand guidance after US Catholic hermit’s trans ‘reveal’

The revelation that a Kentucky archbishop is sponsoring a transgender Catholic hermit has led to bishops calling for church leaders to study the matter and issue guidance, church sources said.

Brother Christian Matson, a diocesan hermit of the Lexington diocese, revealed his transgender status May 19, a move approved two days later by Bishop John Stowe, who heads the church there.

Matson is a biological female. Photos of the hermit — someone who lives in a “stricter separation from the world” according to Catholic teaching — show a person with facial hair and a receding hairline.

There apparently are no rules in Catholicism on how the church should deal with transgender individuals who seek a religious life in the church. Stowe quickly issued a statement praising Matson “for his witness of discipleship, integrity and contemplative prayer for the Church.”

But the disclosure has some Catholic leaders concerned. Several have asked the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ president, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, to direct the group’s canon law committee to develop guidelines, according to Catholic website The Pillar.

The Pillar said clerics asked Broglio to pass the subject to the canonical affairs panel “because no one has said anything” about it, according to a “senior” church source. “No one knows if the [Vatican] is going eventually to address it,” the insider told the news outlet.

At a news conference, Broglio acknowledged “concern” over Matson’s declaration “because of the nature of what eremitic life is in the church . . . and also just the general honesty that should be a part of the whole process of determining a vocation and responding to that vocation.”

Last year, US bishops said transitions such as that undertaken by Matson before he entered religious life “are not morally justified either as attempts to repair a defect in the body or as attempts to sacrifice a part of the body for the sake of the whole” since “there is no disorder in the body that needs to be addressed.”

Neither the bishop’s conference nor the Archdiocese of New York, one of the nation’s largest, immediately responded to requests for comment.

The issue of how the church should deal with gay and transgender members and clergy has made headlines throughout Pope Francis’ tenure as spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics. Shortly after his election, the Argentine-born pontiff said “Who am I to judge?” if a gay priest is sincere in following his faith.

Francis approved a document in December allowing priests to bless individuals in “unusual relationships,” including same-sex couples, but said those blessings couldn’t mimic a Catholic wedding ritual. The move brought blowback from some bishops, who said the pope had departed from church teachings.

Twice in the past month, Francis has reportedly used an Italian word meaning “faggotry” in private comments to priests and bishops in Italy. The first incident sparked a hurried apology from the papal spokesman, who said the pope meant no offense. No comment has been released on the second reported use of the word.