The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has said that transexuals may be baptized and may act as godparents, provided that they are properly disposed and scandal can be avoided.
In a statement released in October, in response to dubia submitted by the Brazilian Bishop José Negri of Santo Amaro, the Vatican’s doctrinal office said that an individual who has undergone gender-reassignment surgery could be baptized “if well prepared and willing.” The statement notes that “when the sacrament is received without repentance for serious sins, the subject does not receive sanctifying grace.”
The same logic applies to transexuals acting as godparents, the dicastery said. On the question of whether transexuals could be official witnesses to a marriage, the Vatican statement said that there was canonical rule against that possibility.
Responding to a question about whether an active homosexual could be a godparent, the dicastery said that “due pastoral prudence requires that each situation be handled wisely,” but did not give a direct response.
The statement, issued in Italian, was signed by Cardinal Victor Fernandez, the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.