"Bishop Authorizes Gender-Neutral Baptisms For Gay Couples"

"A Catholic diocese in northeastern France is endorsing new 'gender-neutral' language in ecclesiastical baptismal registers after the bishop issued a letter recommending the removal of all references to 'father' and 'mother.'

The traditional terms for parents will be replaced on a default basis with 'the name of the parents or other holders of parental authority.'

The bishop of Langres defended the new guidelines, saying it would enable the Church to adapt its initiation rite to homosexual unions without offending anyone.

'The situation in France is becoming more and more complex. This makes certain Catholic acts difficult, in particular, those that concern baptism,' Bp. Joseph de Metz-Noblat stated in an official letter to clergy on Dec. 13.

'Following canon 843, 'ministers can't refuse the sacraments to people who properly ask for them,' and since children should not be disadvantaged by their parents' situations, a number of chanceries have found problems relating to what kind of vocabulary should or could be used,' the bishop elaborated.

Writing as the president of the Council for Canonical Questions (Conseil pour les Questions Canoniques) of the French Bishops' Conference, de Metz-Noblat recommended that bishops and clergy adopt the 'new formula in your diocese, since it seems the most culturally appropriate.'

Moving forward, in any baptismal certificate, 'we will simply acknowledge the context of the child's family situation, without making any moral judgment,' the 59-year-old prelate clarified.

The new provision aims to make France's ecclesial administration conform to the French civil administration, which has waged a war against the use of 'father' and 'mother' in favor of gender-neutral parenting by substituting the terms 'parents' or 'custodians' of children."