Claiming that the church has to “deal with us,” a Catholic diocesan hermit in Kentucky has officially announced to the world that he is transgender. Christian Matson, a monk from Lexington, Kentucky, defied Church teachings with the permission of Bishop John Stowe of Lexington.
Matson is believed to be the first openly transgendered individual to hold the position of hermit in the Catholic Church. In Catholic tradition, hermits live a solitary existence, praising God with a life committed to prayer and a strict separation from the world. Matson believed he was called to join the world in this case.
Stowe explained his support for Matson: “Hermits are a rarely used form of religious life … but they can be either male or female. 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.”
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