How a trans activist and a priest are creating inclusion in India’s Catholic Church

CHENNAI, India (RNS) — Twenty years ago, Inba Ignatius felt she didn’t belong in her Catholic church in suburban South India.

Ignatius, who is now 48 and a transgender activist, recalled that during a Christmas midnight Mass, a priest at her asbestos-covered church refused to administer Communion to her and three of her transgender friends until they “repented.”

But more than a decade later, Ignatius, a fiery and outspoken advocate who has for years been helping trans people find shelter and jobs in Chennai, feels the first stirrings of a new home in Catholicism. That’s in part because, in February, the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore , the Rev. George Antonysamy, launched the first sustained initiative by India’s Catholic Church to minister to and engage with transgender people.

Known as the pastoral care desk, the program is spearheaded by parish priest Father Leo Joseph, along with Ignatius. The group meets monthly, and its stakeholders are Joseph, three nuns from the diocese, four other priests, four members of the transgender community and Ignatius, the coordinator.

The group meets for prayers, yet the primary role of the ministry is pastoral. It aims…