Pope Leo XIV appointed today Monsignor Thomas Hennen, 47, as the new Bishop of Baker, USA.
A priest of the Diocese of Davenport, he has served as Vicar General since 2020 and as Rector of the Cathedral since 2021.
A
decade ago, Monsignor Hennen worked in the conservative apostolate
'Courage' that helps people with gender dysphoria to live chastely.
However,
the more he met with people who "are transgender", he came to
understand them better and "how they were feeling" he said in November
2021 on CatholicMessenger.net, adding that his approach to this issue
"has evolved."
And, "This notion that we have to choose either to
be faithful to our Catholic teaching on the nature of the human person
or welcome, love, and accompany transgender persons is really a false
choice. In fact, it is precisely our understanding of the dignity of the
human person that should motivate our love for transgender persons. Are
there some appropriate accommodations that we could make as a Church
that neither ‘sell out’ on our beliefs nor slam the door in the face of
transgender persons? I think there may be. That’s what we have to
explore."
In 2021, Rev Hennen was a key member of the newly
founded committee of a diocesan 'Gender Committee' about "multiple
issues surrounding transgender people".
In recent years, he
constantly used the language of homosexual activists speaking of
"transgender persons" and "LGBT+ Catholics".
In March 2022 he
wrote on CatholicMessenger.net - using a transgender flag as
illustration - that “transgender people are not ‘pretending’:
"Individuals do not choose to be transgender, at least in terms of the
experience of this deep disconnect between their bodies and their
perception of themselves."
In a June 2023 summit of his diocese,
he said: "I found out, these guys love the Church and they are
faithfully living their Catholic faith, striving to, despite (!) even
their experiences within the Church."
On the sin that cries out
to heaven for revenge, he relativized: "It's not to say that they're
living perfect lives, and to that I say, welcome to the club." And, “I
would say it is important to listen for understanding and not to judge.”
Needless to say, that homosexual activist James Martin SJ has quoted Rev Hennen on his pro-homsoexual media Outreach.faith.
This pro-homosexual vicar general Hennen was trained in the Mass in the Roman Rite and celebrates it, too.
#newsTlxqrvdrfa