Catholic Church Backs Gender Restrictions for Minors, Demands More State Funding

Portugal's Catholic Church Endorses Gender Restrictions While Pressing State on Funding

Portugal's newly elected Catholic Church leadership has endorsed parliamentary restrictions on gender transition procedures for minors while simultaneously demanding increased state funding for Catholic schools and social services. In his first major policy positioning since taking over the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) presidency on April 14, Bishop Virgílio Antunes of Coimbra has signaled a more assertive institutional posture across three distinct policy areas—signaling the Church's broader agenda in state-society relations.

The Gender Law Endorsement

Three parliamentary bills backed by PSD, Chega, and Livre passed first reading in March 2026, reinstating mandatory medical validation for gender-marker changes and restricting treatment access for those under 18. Antunes told Lusa that Parliament's decision represents "a necessary safeguard," framing the question in terms of clinical caution rather than rights advocacy.

"It would not be fair to allow underage individuals to make transition decisions without certain conditions being in place," he stated.

The legislative proposals would reverse most of Law 38/2018, which granted self-determination of gender identity starting at age 16 with a doctor's note. Under the new framework, adolescents aged 16-18 would require a medical report focused on decision-making capacity. The Chega version goes further by banning all medical treatments for gender dysphoria below age 18.

Parties on the left—PS, Livre, Iniciativa Liberal, PCP, Bloco de Esquerda, PAN, and JPP—opposed the measures, calling them a rollback of transgender rights. Civil-society groups warned that reintroducing gatekeeping mechanisms could force vulnerable adolescents into prolonged bureaucratic processes at critical developmental moments.

Catholic School Funding Dispute

The new CEP president also criticised what he described as cancellation of association contracts that historically supported Catholic secondary schools. "There has been enormous difficulty for private institutions to sustain education, given that many association contracts from the past were cancelled and led to the ruin of many teaching establishments," Antunes said.

Government budget data present a more complex picture. For 2025/2026, the Education Ministry raised per-class funding to €88,244.48—a €2,068 increase from the prior year—and expanded subsidised classrooms from 207 to 211. These contracts are allocated to private and cooperative schools in areas where public infrastructure cannot meet demand.

Catholic educators argue that €88,244 per classroom still falls short of operational costs and represents less than half the €98,000 benchmark the Association of Private and Cooperative Educational Establishments (AEEP) considers necessary for parity with public schools. They also point to contract non-renewals in the mid-2010s—triggered by demographic decline and deliberate policy shifts—that forced several institutions to close or downsize.

Antunes framed the issue as a matter of "educational pluralism" and "freedom of education," suggesting state reluctance to expand association contracts constitutes a subtle squeeze on Catholic pedagogy.

Social Service Network Under Strain

The third pillar of the CEP's agenda concerns church-affiliated charities operating through the network of private charitable institutions (IPSS) that run care homes, daycare centres, and social programmes. Antunes warned that chronic underfunding from the Social Security Institute threatens vulnerable populations.

"We expect co-financing allocations through the Social Security Institute to be increased, specifically for IPSS, many or most of which operate under Church stewardship," he said, noting a structural mismatch between per-capita reimbursement rates and actual care costs.

Without higher subsidies, some facilities may reduce capacity or close—leaving municipalities without alternatives. The government has not signaled whether it will raise IPSS funding in the forthcoming budget. Social-security officials cite constraints from wage and pension increases, while Church leaders argue the state relies on IPSS infrastructure for constitutionally mandated welfare, making adequate co-financing a matter of fairness.

Broader Church Positioning

Antunes acknowledged managing internal Church tensions between conservative and progressive factions over synodal reforms, celibacy, and same-sex blessings. He cited Pope Francis's encyclicals on ecology and social justice as enduring priorities while signaling the Portuguese hierarchy would confront "certain ideological dimensions that have come to disturb the life of society, notably gender ideology."

That positioning places Portugal's Catholic leadership alongside churches across Europe interpreting contemporary gender debates as secular overreach into moral and anthropological territory the Church regards as its own. Whether that stance will extend to other equality measures or remain confined to youth medical gatekeeping questions remains unclear.

What Restrictions Might Mean for Families

If the bills clear parliamentary review and final votes, anyone in Portugal under 18 seeking legal name or gender-marker changes would face mandatory medical-assessment requirements that had been removed in 2018. Families with transgender adolescents could anticipate longer specialist appointment waiting periods and additional documentation requirements. The extent of regional disparities in access to qualified evaluators would depend on implementation—details not yet finalized. The Chega proposal would go further by effectively preventing all medical interventions for anyone below age 18 regardless of individual clinical need.