Ok, getting annoyed at the tweets saying we shouldn't be too happy about a certain celebrity's Catholic conversion because of his past: y'all, **sinners converting is literally the whole point of the faith**. The bigger the sin, the happier we should be.
I have to share this: last weekend I gave a talk at a nearby convent, and in lieu of a stipend I asked for their prayers. Well. Today I walked into my office to find a bouquet and a card brimming with notes from sisters who have pledged to pray for me....
View from my bedroom window. Today is my birthday. I was born during the first snow of winter. I haven't experienced snow on my birthday in over twenty years. Feels like a homecoming. 💙
Sex is not a construct. Sexual differentiation is a universal fact of human existence. How do I know this? Because it is the *direct cause of human existence.*
2/ Why did Sweden conclude, after a systematic review of evidence, that the risks of gender-affirming treatment for youth outweigh the possible benefits?
...Dozens of holy hours, rosaries, stations, chaplets, sacrifices--one sister even promised a *year* of night prayer. I am just overcome. What abundance. Please pray for religious vocations; we need this kind of holy generosity more than ever.
3/ Why did Finland issue new guidelines prioritizing psychotherapy after a systematic review found that the evidence for pediatric transition is “inconclusive”?
4/ Why did this 2019 Finnish study conclude that “medical gender reassignment is not enough to improve functioning and relieve psychiatric comorbidities among adolescents with gender dysphoria?”
Today is the 10-year anniversary of my reception into the Catholic Church. Thanks be to God for the wonders he has worked in my stubborn husk of a heart.
It has been beautiful and healing to be at a feminist conference that embraces the gift of femaleness. So many babies and pregnant women, as well as grandmothers, single women, consecrated women... Women are such a gift to the Church!
6/ Why did the UK’s Cass review conclude that “evidence on the appropriate management of children and young people with gender incongruence and dysphoria is inconclusive both nationally and internationally,” noting in particular lack of long-term data?
7/Why did the Obama admin conclude in 2016, after an evidence review, that the “clinical evidence for gender reassignment surgery was inconclusive?” What ground-breaking studies have been issued since that time that show conclusive positive results?
Whenever I see the moon, I think of Mary, she who most perfectly reflects the uncreated light. How incredible to watch a total eclipse on the feast of the Annunciation--that moment when, at her assent, the divine and human touch, becoming one.
I feel like someone super important once said that those that are forgiven much, love much -- and those that are forgiven less, love less. Don't be stingy with your hearts now.
9/ Why did Tordoff et al 2022 fail to show any meaningful improvement in mental health outcomes among the PB/GAH treatment cohort—while reporting the opposite?
10/ Why did Chen et al 2023's study protocol state eight key measures to track--only to have gender dysphoria, trauma symptoms, self-injury, suicidality, body esteem, and quality of life disappear from the published study? Why hide those results?
11/ And why, if treatment is supposed to reduce suicidality, did the Chen et al treated cohort have an alarmingly high suicide rate *after commencing treatment* and despite the fact that severe psychiatric problems were an exclusion criteria?
Nothing like hiding in the closet to do a live phone interview on national radio while your four children yell in the background like someone is being disemboweled but watcha gonna do
13/ If the science is settled that these treatments prevent suicide, why are there multiple, long-term studies that consistently show increased suicidality after transition? 2011 Dhejne et al, 2016 Virupaksha et al, 2021 de Blok et al...
14/ Why did the findings of the original Danish study fail to replicate in the UK? And why were the negative results hidden from the public for six years?
12/ Why did a correction to Bränström & Pachankis 2019 find “the results demonstrated no advantage of surgery in relation to subsequent mood or anxiety disorder-related health care visits or prescriptions or hospitalizations following suicide attempts?"
Social media challenge: next time you see someone getting mobbed online, pray for them. Even if you hate them, even if you disagree, even if they are not in your political tribe. Pray they will know the depth of God's love for them.
Dismissively reducing sexual difference to "body parts" is to overlook both the totalizing nature of sex and, more importantly, its sacramental meaning.
Which saints do you feel closest to?
Me: Theresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Maximilian Kolbe, Joan of Arc, Hildegard of Bingen, Francis de Sales
Yo
#CatholicTwitter
what's your favorite Catholic podcast?
(And no judging other people's answers or I'll roast you using the Martin Luther insult generator)
I've been honored, over the past few months, to hear stories from Catholics who experience gender discordance. Let me tell you, these men and women are a gift to the Church. (And I'm working on a project right now that will bring these stories to you!)
One part of totality I love are the cries and shouts of spontaneous, overwhelming wonder. The modern buffered self pierced by an encounter with the cosmic.
Thrilled to announce that
@IgnatiusPress
is publishing a new edition of my memoir. If you've never read my bizarre-yet-beautiful conversion story, here's your chance. 25% off with code ABIGAIL25.
Friends, in the new board book “Here I Am,” author Abigail Favale offers a timely antidote to confusing messages about gender, identity, and the body.
Get the book at .
I have no hot take about this Martha's vineyard immigration story except to say that my heart aches for those families who have already sacrificed more than I can imagine to seek out a secure life for their children.
Sitting here thinking about my kids and how much I love and miss their precious little faces and maybe I should have another baby----reverie interrupted by text from husband: "Lord save me from these children." 😆
Gender is a social construct.
Gender is an innate sense of self.
Gender is a journey.
Gender is a socially-compelled performance.
Gender is a system of oppression.
Gender is personal expression.
Gender is an inherent identity.
Gender is fluid.
Any questions?
@yellowrosey3
Great, the Church is made for failures! Welcome home. (Also, it's amazing to see what fruit God brings from our failures once we entrust them to him.)
Father preached on abortion today. He prefaced it with, "If abortion has touched your life, please know you are so welcome here. You and I are all here because we need mercy. If I say anything to make you feel unloved, please come talk to me so I can make it right."
Beautiful.
I had sinus surgery today but I guess I'm feeling ok because here I am tweeting about fertility awareness birth control methods and how superior they are to the pill
Indiana folk keep telling me, like ghosts of Christmas future, "Oooh just wait until winter, you'll be miserable." Fun fact about me: I grew up in Idaho where we had snow on the ground from November until April. And winter was my favorite season. So bring it, Indy. Do your worst.
Classic female bullying tactic. Doesn't bode well for the future of civil discourse in America if future lawyers can't handle sitting in the same room with someone who has an opposing view.
Dozens of Harvard Law students staged a walk out protest of a post-Dobbs panel I spoke on (with Prof. Stephen Sachs) today. The HLS administrator (whose name I've forgotten) handled it beautifully, stating that 'freedom of speech... is a bedrock principle' of legal education...
How about this as a solution for the bathroom wars: normalize having a smaller single-use option alongside the male + female group restrooms/locker rooms. This could be used by individuals or families, anyone who needs it. Then everyone can pee or change in peace.
Hello! The new WPATH standards of care includes a section on "eunuchs," an innate gender identity that may require "medically necessary" castration. Oh and even children might become "aware" they are eunuchs. Just want to let you know in case you're still sitting on the fence.
My favorite part of being a dean, hands down, was defending professors against unreasonable student complaints and calls for censure (which btw came from both right and left)
That’s the path I try to walk in my own work and life: acceptance and accompaniment. I’m sure I do this imperfectly, but that’s nonetheless what I’m trying to do.
Honestly I think one of the reasons maternal morbidity is so abysmal in the US is that the women's health conversation is almost entirely centered on abortion/contraception. This needs to change.
"Let us open our hearts to admit all humanity. At the touch of the divine, let us resound with every generous thought, every human affection; let us learn to find in each soul the point at which it is still in touch with the Infinite, with God."
🚨The results are in on the debate between Erika Bachiochi and
@scottyenor
"Feminism Necessarily Undermines Family Life."
64% for Erika and 36% for Scott.
Thank you both for coming out!