In the United States, the national conference of Catholic bishops rejects the idea of gender transition, causing many transgender Catholics to feel excluded.

However, on Wednesday, the Vatican released a statement with a starkly different stance, indicating that, under specific circumstances, transgender Catholics can be baptized and serve as godparents.

Francis DeBernardo, the executive director of New Ways Ministry in Maryland, which advocates for greater LGBTQ acceptance in the church, described it as a significant move toward trans inclusion, considering it “big and good news.”

The document, signed on Oct. 21 by Pope Francis and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, was posted on the office’s website on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.

It stated that a transgender person, if their baptism doesn’t cause scandal or disorientation among other Catholics, “may receive baptism under the same conditions as other faithful.”

Additionally, the document mentioned that transgender adults, even if they had undergone gender-transition surgery, could serve as godparents under certain conditions.

This development appears to be a reversal of a 2015 Vatican decision to prevent a trans man in Spain from becoming a godparent, as noted by DeBernardo.

Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis has shown a recurring interest in making the Catholic Church more welcoming to LGBTQ individuals, despite the firm retention of doctrines rejecting same-sex marriage and sexual activity.

Written by B.C. Begley