Dear Bishop Brennan,
The St. John Henry Newman Chapter of Catholics United for the Faith sends you greetings and wishes you well. As always, you and our Diocese remain in our prayers. As the summer months set in, we hope that you have been able to relax and enjoy the weather some, although the extreme heat has certainly made it rather difficult, we imagine!
Upon reading your most recent letter, Gender Transition (May, 2024), we found your tactful, yet firm approach to condemning so-called “gender-affirming care” quite appropriate, and we greatly appreciate your guidance on these contentious issues, especially in the contemporary political climate. We wholeheartedly agree that those who struggle with their perception of their gender identity deserve the same respect as those who don’t. We also agree that we should will their ultimate good of submission to God’s will, as this is the true meaning of loving our neighbor as ourselves.
However, some of our members were confused about something you wrote on page 3, paragraph 4. When you articulated how Americans’ “heightened individualism” and “relentless assertion of personal autonomy” underlies advocacy for abortion, assisted suicide, and indeed, gender transition, you appeared to include those who made a prudential decision regarding consent to medical intervention (specifically, vaccines) in that category. That is to say, some read this passage to mean that you were grouping those who do not wish to receive certain vaccines (such as the Covid vaccine) with those who support abortion, euthanasia, and gender transition.
You wrote: “[I]n the light of these ethical and practical concerns about medical procedures to alter a person’s body to make it appear more consistent to the person’s ‘felt’ gender, why do the promotion of transgender ideology and its practice continue in the United States? First, we must admit that we Americans exhibit a heightened individualism, a relentless assertion of personal autonomy. ‘Because I want it, because I feel this way, I should be able to do it.’ This attitude underlies advocacy for abortion, assisted suicide and resistance to public health measures such as vaccinations. Even though sincerely held, this attitude is at the base of gender transition.” (Emphasis added).
Surely you did not mean to imply this, since a prudential decision to remain unvaccinated is not morally symmetrical, analogous, or even categorically similar to advocating for abortion, euthanasia, and gender transition. In the former case, there is a legitimate exercise of personal sovereignty (at least prima facie); in the latter case, there is infanticide, homicide, abuse of children, and self-mutilation.
We kindly ask for clarification on this statement. Please be assured of our continued support and appreciation of your guidance in these issues!
Sincerely,
Catholics United for the Faith – St. John Henry Newman Chapter
Catholics United for the Faith – West Virginia 