WASHINGTON – “We welcome the President’s Executive Order that protects opportunities for women and girls to compete in sports safely and fairly,” said Bishop Robert Barron and Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M. “Consistent with the Catholic Church’s clear teaching on the equality of men and women, we reaffirm that, in education and in sports as elsewhere, policies must uphold human dignity. This includes equal treatment between women and men and affirmation of the goodness of a person’s body, which is genetically and biologically female or male.” The bishops offered the following statement in response to the Executive Order signed by President Trump, “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports,” which will help ensure the continued viability of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, guaranteeing equal educational opportunities for women and girls.
“The Catholic Church teaches, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms: ‘Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. “Being man” or “being woman” is a reality which is good and willed by God.’ Athletics not only provide valuable educational opportunities, fostering discipline, teamwork, and personal growth, but they also serve as a celebration of the human body as a gift from God.
“In further recognition of the inherent dignity of the human person, the Church stands firmly against all unjust discrimination, including against those who experience gender discordance, who are equally loved by God. Students who experience gender dysphoria bear the full measure of human dignity, and they therefore must be treated with kindness and respect. Similar to their peers, those students must be assured the right to participate in or try out for co-educational activities in accord with their biological sex.”
Bishop Barron is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, and Bishop O’Connell is chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Catholic Education.
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