Priesthood for transgenders:church not against.

Mangalore Today News Network

Pathanamthitta, Feb 10, 2017: Christianity never banned priesthood and baptism for transgender people, and the Bible clarifies this, says a Church leader in Kerala.

Mar Thoma Metropolitan Joseph Mar Thoma was inaugurating a seminar on ‘Problems faced by transgender people,’ jointly organised by the Communion of Churches in India, National Council for Communal Harmony, and the Mar Thoma Justice and Peace Commission, at the Kombady Camp Centre, near Thiruvalla, on February 8.  He said the baptism of an Ethiopian eunuch by Philip and the prophesy of Isaiah amply justified this truth.

The role played by the eunuch in the formation of the Ethiopian Church too was noteworthy in this regard, he said.  The Metropolitan said the tendency to keep the transgender people away from the mainstream by misinterpreting the Gospel and the prophesies should be rejected.

Bishop Thomas Samuel presided.  Kerala Laingika Nyoonapaksha Federation State president Sreekkutty and Vineeth Mathew presented papers. They called for rejecting the tendency to keep transgender people away by misinterpreting the Gospel.