U.S. Catholic bishops voted Wednesday to formally bar gender transition treatments at Catholic hospitals across the country.
Meeting in Baltimore, the bishops overwhelmingly approved updates to their ethical directives for thousands of Catholic healthcare providers. The vote concludes years of internal debate within the church about how its medical institutions should address transgender care.
Individual bishops will retain discretion over how and when the directives take effect within their dioceses.
Catholic hospitals treat more than one in seven patients nationwide, according to the Catholic Health Association, and in some communities they are the only medical facilities available.
Most Catholic healthcare systems have already declined to provide gender-affirming procedures — including hormonal, psychological, and surgical treatments — and the newly approved rules codify that stance.
Bishop Robert Barron of the Winona-Rochester diocese in Minnesota argued that the church needed to take a firm position, saying, “With regard to the gender ideology, I think it’s very important the church makes a strong statement here.”
The Catholic Health Association expressed appreciation that much of its feedback was included in the revisions, and emphasized that transgender people will still receive compassionate care. “Catholic providers will continue to welcome those who seek medical care from us and identify as transgender,” the organization stated, noting its commitment to treat every patient with dignity.
The directives reflect official guidance issued by the Vatican last year and the U.S. bishops the year prior. A 2023 doctrinal note titled “Moral Limits to the Technological Manipulation of the Human Body” declared that Catholic health services must not participate in medical interventions aimed at changing a person’s sexual characteristics to resemble those of another sex.
Despite the new policies, parish-level acceptance varies widely. Some priests openly affirm and include transgender Catholics, while others do not.
Michael Sennett, a transgender man active in a Massachusetts parish and a board member of New Ways Ministry, said gender-affirming care “is what makes life livable” for many. New Ways Ministry has previously engaged the Vatican on these issues, noting that numerous transgender Catholics experience transition as both a medical and spiritual necessity.
On Wednesday, leaders of several progressive religious denominations also released a statement supporting transgender people. “During a time when our country is placing their lives under increasingly serious threat… let it be known instead that our beloveds are created in the image of God — Holy and whole,” the statement reads. Signatories included heads of the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Episcopal Church, the Union for Reform Judaism, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
In a separate action, the bishops approved a statement criticizing the federal government’s immigration enforcement agenda. They expressed alarm at growing fear among immigrant communities, low attendance at Mass due to concerns about raids, and conditions inside detention facilities.
“We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement,” the statement says. Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich encouraged the group to use stronger language, prompting an update affirming that the bishops “oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.”
