A new Vatican document released April 8 details how the Catholic Church approaches human dignity, but it has raised concern among LGBTQ parishioners and their allies about how it describes gender-affirming surgery.

The document, entitled “Dignitas Infinita” (“Infinite Dignity”), was five years in the making and lays out the ways the Vatican believes the inherent dignity that each person possesses can be honored and protected. Though largely in line with positions the Catholic Church has expressed in the past, it’s notable for elevating some of the church’s most conservative views into doctrine — essentially, official church teachings — during a period in which the current pope has been seen as trying to steer the organization in a more progressive, inclusive direction.

Broadly, the document highlights “grave violations” of human dignity, including war, poverty, mistreatment of migrants, and abuse of women. It also lists other perceived threats, including abortion and what the Vatican describes as “gender theory” and “sex change.” In these provisions, the document criticizes gender-affirming procedures and stresses that the Vatican views gender as a clear binary between men and women.

“While Pope Francis has made greater strides in affirming LGBTQ+ Catholics than any of his predecessors, his endorsement of ‘Dignitas Infinita’ will be seen as turning the clock back by transgender individuals, both within and outside the church,” R. Andrew Chesnut, the Bishop Sullivan Chair in Catholic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, told Vox.

The release of “Dignitas Infinita” comes amid a larger political, cultural, and social discourse about trans rights and medical care, including a recent UK report on the subject. LGBTQ Catholics and advocates fear, too, that it will worsen a climate in which some governments have enacted laws that attack trans people — including numerous GOP bans on gender-affirming care for children in the US — and be used to fuel more discrimination.

“The document should not be dismissed as simply an abstract theological conversation with few human consequences,” Francis DeBernardo, the executive director of New Way Ministries, an LGBTQ Catholic group, said in a statement. “Rather, the Vatican is again supporting and propagating ideas that lead to real physical harm to transgender, nonbinary, and other LGBTQ+ people.”

The Vatican document challenges attempts at inclusion

Under Pope Francis, the Vatican has sought to lead a more inclusive Catholic Church, including approving blessings for same-sex couples and allowing women to vote in a major bishops’ meeting for the first time.

Francis has also personally made overtures to the trans community, approving the baptizing of trans parishioners and welcoming a group of trans women to a weekly gathering. However, as “Dignitas Infinita” exemplifies, such progress toward inclusivity has been halting, with the church still declining to permit marriage for same-sex couples and barring women from becoming priests.

The document’s treatment of trans people continues this pattern by emphasizing the need to acknowledge every person’s human dignity while offering “limited dignity” to trans people, DeBernardo said.

In particular, it argues that gender-affirming procedures threaten the dignity that a person is born with at conception, claiming that such medical care interferes with “the need to respect the natural order of the human person.” The document also broadly denounces “gender theory,” which includes “argu[ing] that a person’s gender can be different from the sex that person was assigned at birth,” NPR’s Jason DeRose explains.

“​​That ‘Dignitas Infinita’ rebukes gender transition interventions as a rejection of God’s plan of human life implies that those individuals who have elected to transition ... have violated divine will,” said Chesnut.

Jason Steidl, a professor of religious studies at St. Joseph’s University who specializes in Catholicism, put it more bluntly. “This is the Newsmax version of Catholic theology,” he said.

The Vatican’s statements have been widely lambasted by trans members of the Catholic Church who view them as undermining their experiences and their place in the church. “Transgender people are beloved, intentional creations of God the same as cisgender men and women are,” Michael Sennett, a trans man and practicing Catholic in Massachusetts, told the Associated Press.

Steidl and others, however, see the doctrine as satisfying a more conservative arm of the Catholic Church.

The pope’s announcement in late 2023, for example, that the Vatican would support priests blessing same-sex couples in certain contexts drew ire from numerous clergymen globally. Those opposed to Francis’s more progressive actions included some in Africa, one of the places where the Catholic Church has seen high growth in recent years, who called it “contrary to the will of God.”

According to Steidl, who is also the author of LGBTQ Catholic Ministry, the provisions going after trans people in the Vatican’s document were likely an attempt to appease this segment of the church. “Cardinal Fernandez, the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, had essentially said that they were going to be throwing traditionalists a bone,” Steidl told Vox.

The church doctrine adds to policies attacking trans people

LGBTQ advocates worry the Vatican’s document will only be further ammunition for conservatives in the political and social spheres as they advance discriminatory policies, particularly as political attacks on trans people have surged in recent years.

At least 19 GOP-led state legislatures in the US have passed laws either restricting or outright banning access to gender-affirming care, even though major physician organizations have deemed such care medically necessary. As the number of anti-trans laws has spiked, a report from the National Center for Transgender Equality has documented an increase in homicides of transgender people in the US between November 2022 and November 2023.

European countries are also taking a more restrictive approach to health care for trans people — particularly for minors. Recently, a report commissioned by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service questioned current transition practices in pediatrics and reiterated recommendations to reduce the use of puberty blockers, a treatment the NHS has already stopped offering for minors with gender dysphoria.

LGBTQ advocates are concerned that the Vatican’s document will just add to rhetoric globally that has sought to curtail trans rights.

“This document … tells trans people that they are a threat to the world, that they are a threat to order, to the systems that God has set up,” Steidl told Vox. “Unfortunately, the Vatican is contributing to these movements that seek to hurt trans people, that seek to eliminate them.”

Correction, April 11, 6 pm ET: This article previously stated that Jason Steidl was a professor at St. Johns University. He is a professor at St. Joseph’s University.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley and her national champion Gamecocks celebrated with a jam-packed downtown parade and rally at the statehouse a week after completing their undefeated season.

Staley and her players rode some seven blocks to the cheers of a crowd that Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann called the largest ever in the downtown area of the capital city. And then Staley teased a repeat celebration 12 months from now.

"I hope we can end our [next] season at the same time, in the same place on this beautiful day," Staley said. "Thank you so much for loving up on us. We truly appreciate it."

It would be difficult to bet against the Gamecocks, who were an inexperienced, untested group that lost seven seniors from the team that lost to Iowa Hawkeyes and Caitlin Clark in the 2023 Final Four.

Staley recalled to the crowd that, when asked about her young players and the new roles they would have to fill, she said to "expect the unexpected."

The Gamecocks exceeded almost everyone's expectations, finishing 38-0 to become the 10th undefeated national champion after beating the Hawkeyes 87-75 on April 7. It was Staley's third NCAA crown in the past seven tournaments.

University president Michael Amiridis said he loves talking up Staley and her program until the listeners tell him to stop.

"Some people call it a 'Dawn-asty,' some call it a 'dynasty.' I don't know the right word," he said. "But I know we're building an empire."

Staley singled out the lone player, as of now, not coming back in 6-foot-7 Final Four most outstanding player Kamilla Cardoso, who passed on a WNBA draft orientation session in New York City to take part in the parade.

"You all have made it a special time for here to take on to the next level," Staley said.

Cardoso, a key reserve on the 2022 national championship team, and Staley will both be at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Monday, when Cardoso is expected to be among the top five selections.

Even without Cardoso, South Carolina should be a formidable team next season. Barring any surprise jumps into the transfer portal -- NC State star Saniya Rivers left the Gamecocks a few days after celebrating in the 2022 title parade -- players such as sophomores Ashlyn Watkins and Chloe Kitts and freshmen MiLaysia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson should easily slide into larger roles.

The Gamecocks add the game's No. 2 college prospect in Joyce Edwards of Camden, South Carolina.

Staley is not afraid to bring in necessary players via the portal. One of the top 3-point shooters nationally this season in Te-Hina Paopao transferred in from Oregon last offseason.

Paopao, who will be back next year, used point guard Raven Johnson's words to set the bar high for 2025.

"It's time for the repeat tour," she said to wild cheers.

Islamabad: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that there is a plan to discuss the loan extension program with International Monetary Fund (IMF), however, first tax should be collected from the sectors not included in the tax net and the privatization agenda should be implemented.

Speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb stated that structural reforms will take two to three years.

He added: “The inflation rate in Pakistan has come down from a high level of 38 percent to around 20 percent and the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is growing in a positive direction”.

The finance minister continued to say that the growth in agriculture GDP is 5%, the services sector is on the way to improvement, the exchange rate is stable and the government will push forward the reform agenda.

Muhammad Aurangzeb further said that the experience in the private sector will be used for economic stability, tax to GDP is insufficient at 10%, it has to be taken up to 15%, investment to GDP must also be taken up to 15%.

The finance minister also stated, ‘We will have to increase exports, bring the circular debt in order, implement the privatization agenda, all these issues have been signed by my predecessors in the agreement with the IMF’.

The digitization is necessary for transparency in the tax system, it is also necessary to collect taxes from those sectors which were not included in the tax net earlier, added Aurangzeb.

He continued that while trying to bring more people into the tax net, we have to reduce expenditure.

Muhammad Aurangzeb said that talks with the IMF officials on his arrival in Pakistan were constructive, the economic situation of Pakistan has improved this year, Pakistan has successfully completed the IMF program, there have been positive discussions with the IMF officials.

He added that steps are being taken to increase tax collection, reforms are being brought in Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) and economic stability can be brought through public-private projects.

“We have to restore one-window operation, the process of consultation with all stakeholders is going on, the cooperation of international organizations is indispensable for comprehensive development, we have to create a favorable environment for domestic and foreign investors,” stated the federal minister.