Catholic diocesan hermit approved by Kentucky bishop comes out as transgender

Source: Religion News Service via AP

Catholic diocesan hermit approved by Kentucky bishop comes out as transgender

BY JACK JENKINS
Updated 2:47 PM EDT, May 21, 2024

(RNS) — Diocesan hermits by nature don’t get much attention. A small subset of religious persons, hermits mostly spend their lives engaged in quiet prayer.

Brother Christian Matson, a Catholic diocesan hermit in Kentucky, has spent years doing just that. His monk’s habit might catch his neighbor’s eye, but he is known in the town where he lives primarily through his work with the local theater.

But recently Matson decided that his faith compels him to make a little more noise than usual.

“This Sunday, Pentecost 2024, I’m planning to come out publicly as transgender,” Matson told Religion News Service on Friday (May 17), saying he was speaking out with the permission of his bishop, John Stowe of the Diocese of Lexington in Kentucky.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/catholic-transgender-hermit-kentucky-50f1c109a88d272ac6db91c5facb0b4f