Gender Ideology and Pastoral Practice: A Handbook for Catholic Clergy, Counselors, and Ministerial Leaders

Edited by Theresa Farnan, Susan Selner-Wright and Robert L. Fastiggi 

Reviewed by Francis Etheredge , Catholic married layman, father of 11, 3 of whom are in heaven, and an author. Forthcoming from En Route Books and Media: Who Am I? A SnapShot!

In this remarkable book, remarkable for its lucidity, comprehensiveness and explanatory power, our tendency to sympathise with the difficulties of young people, especially when it comes to growing up and struggling with the acceptance of their sex from conception, is wonderfully tempered with realism: that the idea that there is no fixed sex is a multi-billion-pound program of the exploitation of our youth and of the countries of the world. In other words, this book assembles all the evidence for us to realize, inexorably, that gender ideology is not a random accumulation of acts but a strategy to bring about a disordering domination of society.

This book, therefore, is a resounding call to recover sound biology and philosophy, to expose the coercion of the poor by monetary gifts and to subvert political systems, including the United Nations, by incremental word changes and non-binding proposals being treated as “agreed”. Thus this is a clarion call to the use of reason, evidence, and the depth and breadth of natural law principles, Catholic theology and practice and cooperation for the common good for the sake of our young people and the well-being of our societies. In a word, this book recommends the return of the original principles of the natural law, do good and avoid harm, unfolded in the foundations of the United Nations, and “wanting” in so many exchanges between people and places.

This book is timely, invaluable, and a broad and well researched educator of all concerned with the truth of our times and how to advance the good of people; and, if possible, I recommend that it is used directly, or indirectly, in the education of all for the sake of the common good. As it says in the title, there is much that is more specific to Catholic ministries; but, even so, the discussions are insightful and of wider significance than the necessary pastoral care to which they are directed. All in all a must and well-rounded read!