In June 2019 the Vatican released a statement on gender theory, “Male and Female He Created Them.” Responses to the document show that many Catholics still accept two myths about Church teaching on gender. The first is that it is unchanging, and the second is that it always comes from the top down. Yet, Pope Francis has also spoken of a need for both rethinking Church teaching and more dialogue. In this lecture, Dr. Tataryn shows that Church teaching, especially in the area of sexuality, is not static but has changed over the centuries. Moreover, he argues that the process should be more dialogical and less hierarchical.
Myroslaw Tataryn is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at St. Jerome’s University. A married Ukrainian Greco-Catholic priest, he served as SJU Vice President and Academic Dean at St. Jerome’s from 2005 to 2011. His most recent work, Discovering Trinity in Disability: A Theology for Embracing Difference, was co-authored with his wife Maria Truchan-Tataryn. He has authored books and papers in the history of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church in Canada and topics in Eastern Christian theology.