Bishops seek exemption to British proposal on transsexuals' records

Published: 2007-09-11

LONDON (CNS) -- English and Welsh bishops have expressed concern that they would not be able to stop transsexuals from becoming nuns or priests under new equality legislation proposed by the British government. The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales said it feared proposals to ban "indirect discrimination" against people who have had sex-change operations would take away the church's right to check vital records -- such as baptismal and confirmation certificates -- that would reveal if candidates for the priesthood, religious life or marriage were transsexuals. The bishops expressed their concerns in a Sept. 10 submission to the British government, which has proposed that vital records be altered when a person has a sex-change operation. A copy of the submission, prepared on behalf of the bishops by Archbishop Peter Smith of Cardiff, Wales, was obtained by Catholic News Service. Archbishop Smith asked for an exemption for the Catholic Church on the grounds that church officials would have no way of knowing, for instance, if a woman who applied to be a nun had been a man, or if a man applying to join the priesthood had been a woman.

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