Bishop Rhoades reacts to Saint Mary's policy to consider undergraduates identifying as women

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. - Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend said he was not consulted before Saint Mary’s College updated their Non-Discrimination Policy to consider admission for undergraduates who identify as women.

In a letter posted on his Facebook page, Bishop Rhoades said the college, “departs from fundamental Catholic teaching on the nature of woman and thus compromises its very identity as a Catholic woman’s college.”

Bishop Rhoades said that while Saint Mary’s is trying to promote love, inclusion and acceptance, the college is doing so inauthentically by separating love from truth. He agrees with the need to stand in loving solidarity with all but says that solidarity does not mean affirming a misunderstanding of sexual identity.

“The desire of Saint Mary’s College to show hospitality to people who identify as transgender is not the problem,” he said. “The problem is a Catholic woman’s college embracing a definition of woman that is not Catholic.”

Bishop Rhoades is urging the Board of Trustees to correct its policy.

Read the full statement below or on Facebook.