Guidance about the Transgender Question

Aug 10, 2025

Guest

Robert Fastiggi

Guest

Susan Selner Wright

Guest

Teresa Farnan

Teresa Farnan, a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, discusses her deep concerns for children and schools. Susan Selner-Wright, a retired philosophy professor, shares her expertise from organizing national conferences on gender identity. Robert Fastiggi, a dogmatic theology professor, emphasizes the balance of compassion and truth in addressing transgender issues within faith communities. They dissect the complexities of youth gender identity, the role of parental support, and cultural variances in understanding gender, all while advocating for informed pastoral care.

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INSIGHT

Anthropology Is The Core Battle

Teresa Farnan frames the debate as a dispute over what it means to be human and whether body and soul form a unity.
She argues modern claims that identity can override embodied sex undermine Christian anthropology.

INSIGHT

Science Supports Embodied Human Nature

Susan Selner Wright shows science and classical metaphysics align on embodied human nature against identity-as-choice claims.
She uses embryology and form-matter metaphysics to undercut the 'no-nature' identity narrative.

INSIGHT

Hold Sacramental Records To Biological Sex

Robert Fastiggi stresses that biological sex is a gift from God and must be recorded and upheld pastorally.
He warns sacramental practice (baptism, sponsors) must avoid scandal while caring for confused people.

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The authors and editors of a new edited volume, Gender Ideology and Pastoral Practice: A Handbook for Catholic Clergy, Counselors, and Ministerial Leaders, represent a tremendous knowledge and experience in theology, philosophy, history, and social politics, and apply it to help us sort how to think about and talk about the recent wave of transgenderism in society and especially among young people. Often clothed in terms of compassion and acceptance, transgender advocates encourage young people to make permanent surgical changes to their bodies, bodies that many will soon regret. So, how do we counsel them? Christianity is fundamentally committed to compassion and love (caritas, agape) and opposed to judgement (Mt. 7:1) yet also committed to truth. And true love does not mean letting young people make permanent mistakes that they do not fully understand—so it’s a real pickle! We talk it over on Almost Good Catholics.

This episode was recorded in the sede vacante moment between the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV.

Also, this episode is intended to be the first of two, with a second one following up in the near future with an interview with a transgender advocate in the coming weeks.

Here is the book available from En Route Media, and of course from Amazon as well.
Here is the Person and Identity website, an invaluable resource for those sorting through the issue.
Theresa Farnan’s website.
Robert Fastiggi’s website.
Susan Selner-Wright’s website.
And here’s the website of the International Catholic Jurists Forum that we discussed.

Here are some earlier episodes of AGC with Robert Fastiggi, the second one also about the transgender questions (and the first about Mariology):

Robert Fastiggi on Almost Good Catholics, episode 7: Mother of All Nations: Immaculate Conception, Virgin Birth, Assumption, and Coronation of Mary
Robert Fastiggi and Deborah Savage on Almost Good Catholics, episode 100: Lived Experience and the Search for Truth: Revisiting Catholic Sexual Morality

Here is are earlier AGC episodes about the related themes of same-sex attraction from two perspectives, including the discussion with Fr. Jim Martin SJ we discussed in today’s episode:

Father James Martin, SJ, on Almost Good Catholics, episode 30: What if You’re Gay? Starting Conversations with and about LGBT Catholics.

Garrett Johnson on Almost Good Catholics, episode 42: Who Do You Think You Are? Thorny Questions about Sex, Identity, and Catholic Doctrine.

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