Question:
Answer:
This must understandably be a difficult situation for you, given that you once dated this man. While it is certainly a good thing to pray for him, be on guard that it doesn’t become a preoccupation for you, given the affection you had for him; and share this with a priest or other good confidant if it does become a problem for you. In short, it’s not your responsibility to help him resolve this issue, as much as you have cared for him. So be wary of cultivating a false guilt about the situation.
In addition to prayer, perhaps the best thing you could do would be to recommend to him a good priest for spiritual counsel, as well as a good psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical therapist who specializes in serving those with gender identity disorder (GID). Perhaps making those recommendations through someone who is close to him now, such as a parent or a friend, would be most fruitful, since he is more likely to receive their recommendation well. GID is the longstanding clinical name for someone who is struggling with their God-given, biological gender, although some have sought to replace it with the term “gender dysphoria.”
For information on this subject, contact the Institute for Marital Healing, which has helpful resources for those struggling with GID.