Catholic monk comes out as transgender with diocese's permission

A Catholic monk in Kentucky has come out publicly as a transgender man and claims to be the first person in his position to do so. 

Brother Christian Matson, 39, a Catholic hermit in the Diocese of Lexington in Kentucky, made the declaration on Sunday, the diocese announced Tuesday. Hermits are a small subset of religious persons who mostly spend their lives engaged in quiet prayer.

"On Pentecost Sunday, Brother Christian Matson, a professed hermit in the Diocese of Lexington, has made it public that he is a transgender person," the diocese said. Pentecost Sunday is the day on which the Holy Spirit descended upon early Christians, the Bible teaches. 

Matson converted to Catholicism in 2010, four years after transitioning while in college, Matson told Religion News Service (RNS) last week ahead of the pending announcement. In 2022, Matson took vows as a hermit under Bishop John Stowe of the Diocese of Lexington in Kentucky. Stowe was aware of Matson being trans, according to the outlet.

Matson, who is also a Benedictine oblate, had a defiant message to those who are critical of transgender people in the church.

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Brother Christian Matson, left, a Catholic hermit in the Diocese of Lexington in Kentucky, has come out publicly as a trans person. (Jennifer Hart Yonts | Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

"You’ve got to deal with us, because God has called us into this church," Matson told RNS. "It’s not your church to kick us out of — this is God’s church, and God has called us and engrafted us into it."

"If I don’t say anything and allow the church to continue to make decisions based on incorrect information, then I’m not serving the church." Matson was raised in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Matson claims to be the first openly transgender person in his position in the Catholic Church, although RNS was not able to confirm the claim. 

Last month, the Vatican published a document that discussed the Catholic Church's view on transgender individuals.

Pope Francis has previously called gender ideology as one of the world's "most dangerous ideological colonizations." (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

The declaration, called "Infinite Dignity," was approved by Pope Francis and said that God created men and women as biologically different beings, and that no one should try to alter that plan or "make oneself God." The document describes gender-affirming surgery as violating God's gift of human dignity and as attempting to play God on the surgeon's table during a "sex-change intervention."

Francis has previously called gender ideology as one of the world's "most dangerous ideological colonizations."

A 2019 Vatican document rejected "calls for public recognition of the right to choose one’s gender" in its instructional letter, while in 2021, the Diocese of Marquette in Michigan instructed priests to refuse transgender people asking to be baptized or confirmed until they have "repented," according to RNS.

"It was suddenly becoming a lot more difficult in the church to be trans," Matson told RNS. 

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Some dioceses in the U.S. have issued stern guidelines in effect forbidding acknowledgment of gender transitions. However, some parishes have welcomed trans people.

Matson decided he wanted to dedicate his life to his faith, but a 2000 Vatican document that, according to a Catholic News Service report from the time, stated that anyone who had undergone "sex-change" was ineligible to marry, be ordained or enter religious life.

Matson then sought the advice of a canon lawyer, and after a decade of trying to find a suitable religious order to serve as well as studying in the U.K., he connected with Bishop John Stowe of the Diocese of Lexington in Kentucky, who had been calling for a more tolerant approach to LGBTQ+ people. During that time, Matson also co-founded a nonprofit in New York City called the Catholic Artist Connection.

Stowe expressed his openness to accepting Matson as a hermit because he was a sincere person who wanted to serve the church, Stowe said of Matson, per RNS. 

"Hermits are a rarely used form of religious life … but they can be either male or female," Stowe said. Because there’s no pursuit of priesthood or engagement in sacramental ministry, and because the hermit is a relatively quiet and secluded type of vocation, I didn’t see any harm in letting him live this vocation."

"It was an enormous relief," Matson said. "I was in tears. I felt my hope revive."

Two trans people hold hands while marching under a trans pride flag in the New York City Pride Parade on June 26, 2022 in New York City. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

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In 2022, Matson took his first vows as a diocesan hermit under Stowe’s direction and then renewed the vows in 2023. 

"I became Catholic after I transitioned because of the Catholic understanding — the sacramental understanding — of the body, of creation, of the desirability of the visible unity of the church and primarily because of the Eucharist," Watson told RNS. 

The Diocese of Lexington's statement went on to say that "Brother Christian has long sought to consecrate his life to Christ in the Church by living the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience."

"He has consistently been accompanied by a competent spiritual director and has undergone formation in the Benedictine tradition," the statement continues. "He does not seek ordination, but has professed a rule of life that allows him to support himself financially by continuing his work in the arts and to live a life of contemplation in a private hermitage."