WASHINGTON, D.C., July 31, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – The Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, issued a statement defending President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. military will no longer accept “transgender” individuals because of the “tremendous medical costs and disruption” it causes.
President Trump’s surprise announcement via Twitter last week was an end-run around the “deep state,” embedded in all levels of the U.S. government that would have set up endless roadblocks for such a policy reversal.
The President cleverly used Twitter to go around the massive, intractable federal bureaucracy in much the same way he used Twitter during his campaign to go around the “mainstream media” in order to advance toward the White House.
The reason for the tweet
During his tenure as president, Barack Obama imposed a “transgender-inclusive” decree on the military allowing them to openly serve. The Army recently released guidelines preparing women to shower with men as part of “transgender” training.
As a result, the U.S. Army has begun telling women soldiers that they need to accept gender-confused, biological men in their showers, bathrooms, and barracks as part of a controversial policy to build “dignity and respect” for “transgender Soldiers.”
It seems that the co-ed showers, and a conservative Republican effort to stop government-funded “sex change” surgeries for military personnel, will cease thanks to Trump's new order.
Military archbishop gets to the heart of the issue: human dignity
In his statement of support, Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D. went well beyond the 140 character limits of Twitter to outline the best possible rationale for the newly announced policy. While acknowledging the wisdom of banning the service of transgender individuals because of the “detriment to military readiness and the cost associated with gender reassignment surgeries and therapies,” Archbishop Broglio went further, offering a Catholic perspective:
“Certainly military readiness is of utmost importance to our servicemen and women who selflessly risk personal safety to defend the values and freedoms of our Nation. The President’s announcement and the prevailing response, however, fail to address the essence of the issue – the dignity of the human person.”
Then Archbishop Broglio addressed the heart of the issue, saying, “The dignity of the human person is rooted in the fact that people are created in the image and likeness of God – God who in the fullness of his divinity assumed humanity to redeem the world.”
Eternal truth
The Military Archbishop concluded, “Sexual orientation and gender identity issues reflect a rapidly increasing and incorrect societal attitude that individual behaviors in life should pursue immediate and personal choices rather than eternal truth. In extending the maternal care of the Church to the faithful of this Archdiocese, it is opportune to reaffirm that personal choices in life, whether regarding the protection of the unborn, the sanctity of marriage and the family, or the acceptance of a person’s God-created biology, should be made not solely for a penultimate reality on this earth but in anticipation of the ultimate reality of sharing in the very life of God in heaven.”
The archdiocese for the Military Services
According to its website, “The Archdiocese for the Military Services was created by Pope John Paul II to provide the Catholic Church’s full range of pastoral ministries and spiritual services to those in the United States Armed Forces. This includes more than 220 installations in 29 countries, patients in 153 V.A. Medical Centers, and federal employees serving outside the boundaries of the USA in 134 countries. Numerically, the AMS is responsible for more than 1.8 million men, women, and children.”
