Church in Ennore sets up pastoral desk for transgender people

Ennore church establishes a pastoral desk to support transgender individuals in Chennai, addressing their spiritual and employment needs.

At a time when the LGBTQIA+ community is facing serious questions on gender determination in the country, in the south, a small, but certain step, has been made towards providing support for trans persons.

A small, nondescript room in Kadarkarai Sagaya Madha Church in Ennore will soon house an office for a Catholic desk for transgender people, which was recently inaugurated by the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore Rev. George Antonysamy.

The desk will cater to trans persons, particularly in Chennai, and aims to address the community’s spiritual needs, as well as concerns related to employment and mental health counselling.

Leo Joseph, the parish priest, is spearheading the initiative – which, he believes, is the first of its kind in India – along with Inba Ignatius, whose Snegidhan Snegidhi Trust has been helping members of the trans community find shelter and employment for years. Fr. Joseph says he began working with the trans community in Chennai after meeting Ms. Ignatius,who would often visit the Gandhi Nagar Christ the King Church, where he had previously served as parish priest.

“Before I met Inbamma [Ms. Ignatius], I too was ignorant about the issues faced by the trans community. They were afraid to even come to church because of the discrimination they had faced,” he says. While the Catholic Church has historically not affirmed transgender identities and has been exclusionary, the late Pope Francis’s work, and his call to bring people on the fringes of society to its centre, inspired Fr. Joseph.

On Maundy Thursday this year, priests washed the feet of trans woman, signifying the act of Jesus washing the feet of his 12 disciples during the Last Supper, at Kadarkarai Sagaya Madha Church | Photo Credit: Special arrangement