Brother Christian Matson, a diocesan hermit in the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, has come out as transgender.
Matson, according to Religion News Service, “transitioned” in 2006, converted to Catholicism in 2010, was declined admission to the Jesuits and other religious communities, and was accepted as a vowed diocesan hermit by Bishop John Stowe.
“My willingness to be open to him is because it’s a sincere person seeking a way to serve the Church,” said Bishop Stowe. “Hermits are a rarely used form of religious life … but they can be either male or female. Because there’s no pursuit of priesthood or engagement in sacramental ministry, and because the hermit is a relatively quiet and secluded type of vocation, I didn’t see any harm in letting him live this vocation.”
Matson, a critic of Vatican and US bishops’ documents on transgenderism, is “known in the town where he lives primarily through his work with the local theater,” according to the report.