The Vatican claims that gender-affirming surgery compromises a person's "unique dignity"

The Vatican has issued a robust caution against "gender theory," asserting that any procedure involving "sex-change" poses a threat to "the inherent dignity" of an individual, in a new document endorsed and approved by Pope Francis.

Entitled "Dignitas Infinita" (Infinite Dignity), the declaration addresses various challenges to human dignity, encompassing poverty, the death penalty, warfare, assisted suicide, abortion, sexual abuse, and the abuse of women.

Released by the Vatican's doctrine office on Monday, the text contends that efforts to obscure "the natural distinction between man and woman," including gender-affirming surgeries, should be rebuffed. It further states, "Consequently, any intervention for sex change, in principle, jeopardizes the unique dignity bestowed upon the individual from the moment of conception."

Pope Francis has previously voiced strong opposition to gender ideology, denouncing it as "pernicious" for effacing the perceived differences between men and women. The recent Vatican document quotes Francis, characterizing gender ideology as a type of "ideological colonization."