Bishop Thomas Paprocki said that gender dysphoria could be "reasonably compared" to anorexia. (Diocese of Springfield in Illinois)

A Catholic bishop in Illinois, who performed an exorcism when same-sex marriage was legalised, has moved on to attacking trans people.

Thomas Paprocki, bishop of Springfield, Illinois, previously held a mass “exorcism” following the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the state.

He held the exorcism, he said, because same-sex marriage “comes from the devil and should be condemned as such”.

Now Paprocki has released a “pastoral guide” on gender identity which compares gender dysphoria to anorexia, and states that all diocese staff as well as students at Catholic schools within the diocese, must “conduct themselves in accord to their biological sex at all times”.

The policy insists that all employees, volunteers and students use “gender pronouns, along with bathroom and locker room use and sports activities that acknowledge their God-given biology”.

They must also refer to others using pronouns which correlate with their sex assigned at birth. If these rules are broken, it could result in them being fired or expelled.

The document continues: “A person cannot change his or her gender. A person should accept and seek to live in conformity with his or her sexual identity as determined at birth.”

He expressly forbid anything that could affirm the gender of a trans person, including gender affirmation surgery which he describes as “intrinsically evil”.

The bishop said that gender dysphoria could be “reasonably compared” to a deadly psychiatric illness.

The document continues: “Gender dysphoria can be reasonably compared to anorexia.

“Each is a condition in which a person, for a complex set of reasons, has a self-perception of his or her physical biology that is dislocated from reality.

“Just as it would be pastorally reckless to provide weight-loss resources to a visibly gaunt anorexic who thinks she is overweight, it is equally reckless to encourage someone with gender dysphoria to undergo hormone treatment and/or genital mutilation.”

He also gave advice to parents of trans children, writing: “Fueling the confusion that families face in these circumstances is not merciful.

“For the sake of the family and the loved one, it is imperative to be clear on the reality of human biology as a gift from God that we cannot change.”

He added: “Parents are submitting their children to hormonal therapies at pre-pubescent ages in order to prepare for sexual transgender surgeries later.

“Viewed through a Christian lens, such cases amount to child abuse and genital mutilation.”

A recent landmark study, published in medical journal Pediatrics in January 2020, was the first to look at the impact of access to puberty blockers on suicide risk of trans kids.

The study found that if trans teenagers have access to puberty blockers their chance of suicide and mental health problems significantly declines.