AFRICA - The challenge of gender ideology: a talk by Msgr. Anatrella at African Bishop Assembly

Rome (Agenzia Fides) – The anthropological question was the focus of the conference given by Monsignor Tony Anatrella at the 15th Plenary Assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) held July 26th to August 2nd, 2010 in Accra (Ghana).
Monsignor Tony Anatrella, psychoanalyst and social psychiatrist, teaches at the “Facultés libres de philosophie et de psychologie” in Paris (IPC) and the “Collège des Bernardins,” also in Paris. He is also a consultant of the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care. His talk on the topic “Caritas in Veritate, the Family and the Theory of Gender” was sent to Fides.
Starting from the Encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI "Caritas in Veritate," Monsignor Anatrella faces challenges brought about by the ideological currents that impose a vision of man as independent "from human nature and universal laws relating to his condition." In this context, "the theory of gender is the most worrying sign of the current ideas about man." This theory states that "human nature does not exist because the human being is merely the result of culture. Masculinity and femininity are mere social inventions, according to the cultural context of each era." The theory of gender also maintains that "motherhood and fatherhood are no longer in relation to the identity of male or female, but are interchangeable social roles.”
It is a vision that, replacing "class struggle" with "the war of the sexes," is deeply contrary to Christian anthropology. "The anthropological heresies that we are having to face, once again in history, are in need of a new evangelization," concluded Monsignor Anatrella. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 11/08/2010)