A progressive US Catholic Church ordained its first transgender male priest this week.

Shannon Kearns was tasked with starting a new parish in Minneapolis by The North American Old Catholic Church (NAOCC) on 19 January.

Kearns says he hopes he will lead his flock by aiming to combine traditional Catholic beliefs with embracing all people.

He said: ‘I am honoured and humbled to have my calling to ministry affirmed by the North American Old Catholic Church.

‘I look forward to many years serving as a priest.’

Founded in 2007, the NAOCC is a LGBT-affirming Christian denomination that allows non-celibate LGBT individuals to be ordained in Holy Orders.

This church allows the ordaining of women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, married and partnered people, and those who have been divorced.

The DC-based church does not submit to the authority of the Pope because of his anti-gay views.

Pope Benedict XVI claimed in his World Day of Peace speech that same-sex marriage is unnatural, against human nature, and poses a threat to ‘justice and peace’.

He said: ‘Such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society.’

In the US, there are estimated to be fewer than 100 transgender clergy members.