St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Manhattan has launched an exhibit titled “God is Trans: A Queer Spiritual Journey” to the consternation of many of the faithful.
The colorful exhibit, displayed on the walls of the “ultra-woke Manhattan church,” is the creation of artist Adah Unachukwu, and represents an attempt to show how faith and gender identity intersect.
The installation “maps the queer spiritual journey by three significant points: Sacrifice, Identity, and Communion,” the didactic reads.
“The painting Sacrifice and its complementary act in the film speak to the need to shed an old life and personhood in order to be able to focus on your spiritual need. There is no devil, just past selves,” it continues.
The show has reportedly upset some churchgoers, who feel they are having an “agenda” forced on them.
“The church should not be promoting this,” one told the New York Post. “I understand there are transgender people. I pray for all people but enough is enough.”
“It seems like they are trying to force the agenda on others,” the person added. “You can’t put this out on the altar and then hide. That’s what gets the church in trouble.”
The celebrated LGBT Jesuit Father James Martin has praised the Church of St. Paul the Apostle as home to “one of the most vibrant Catholic #LGBT ministries in the country, perhaps the world” and is “a model for many parishes.”
Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor at large of America Magazine, has praised the Church of St. Paul the Apostle. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Father Martin has voiced particular appreciation for the parish’s “Out at Saint Paul” program, which seeks to enrich “the spiritual and intellectual needs of LGBTQ+ Catholics” and to leverage “the talents of LGBTQ+ parishioners to focus on needs within the LGBTQ+ community in NYC.”
According to the conservative group “Tradition – Family – Property” (TFP), the “God Is Trans” show is nothing short of blasphemous and merits serious protest from people of faith.
“Did you ever imagine such a pro-transgender blasphemy would be hosted by the very shepherds who are called to protect the sheep, but instead act like wolves?” asks TFP Student Action Director John Ritchie in an email, adding that St. Paul’s also promotes sacrilegious “Pride Masses” in an attempt to normalize homosexuality within the Church.
In 2019, the Vatican released a text addressing transgenderism. The document, titled Male and Female He Created Them, is sharply critical of “gender theory,” which would reflect “an anthropology opposed to faith and to right reason.”
The text also contended that one’s sex and gender cannot be changed and that assertions to the contrary are not “based on the truths of existence.”
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New York said it learned of the exhibit at St. Paul’s through media reports and is investigating.
“We had no knowledge of it beforehand,” the spokesperson said.
“If media reports are accurate, then we would have concerns. We are investigating and looking to speak with the pastor of the parish to get more information,” the spokesperson added.