Pro-Gay Fr. James Martin to Speak in Philadelphia Archdiocese

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PHILADELPHIA (ChurchMilitant.com) - Celebrity Jesuit Fr. James Martin will be speaking in the archdiocese of Philadelphia. Scheduled for October 30, the controversial cleric, known for his attempts to normalize homosexuality in the Church, will offer a talk at Old St. Joseph's, a Jesuit-run parish.

Archbishop Charles Chaput is so far remaining silent on the event, in spite of two queries from Church Militant asking for comment, specifically, whether he'd be issuing a statement about the controversial speaker in his archdiocese, or asking the parish to rescind the invitation, as other groups have done.

Father Martin has suffered a rash of disinvitations from major speaking events, something he blames in part on Church Militant.

In late August, Church Militant reported that the priest was asked not to be the keynote speaker at the October gala for the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the most ancient and illustrious orders of the Church, under the direct patronage of the pope. His disinvitation came after intense backlash from knights outraged that the order would welcome the unabashed LGBT advocate to its gala. Around the same time, Martin was also disinvited from speaking at Theological College, the national seminary of the Catholic University of America.

Read our Fr. Martin FAQ

Martin got on social media to complain. "Dear friends: Theological College, the seminary at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, DC, today cancelled a talk I was to give on Alumni Day, on Oct. 4, thanks to a campaign by Church Militant, the priest known as 'Father Z' as well as Lifesite News," he lamented. "Each of these cancellations was a result of anger or fear over my book 'Building a Bridge,' about LGBT Catholics."

The October 30 event in Philadelphia notes that Martin will again be addressing his book, "which concerns the respectful and sensitive relationship he wants to foster between the Catholic Church and the LGBT community."

In spite of the welcoming tone, Martin freely heaps harsh judgment on his critics, calling those who oppose his agenda the Catholic "Alt Right," "cyber-militias" and "missionaries of hate."

The term "cyber-militias" gained prominence in a widely panned article by liberal Villanova professor Massimo Faggioli, who hinted that the Church should act to censor and silence voices of orthodoxy.

Martin regularly promotes dissident pro-gay group New Ways Ministry, officially condemned by the Holy See, yet whose founder, censured Sr. Jeannine Gramick, continues in her ministry in defiance of Rome. Martin has also supported and promoted Catholic figures who've said or done outrageous things, e.g., Dr. Shawn Copeland, who says that "Jesus is queer," Fr. Greg Boyle, who publicly supports gay "marriage" and women "priests," and defrocked priest Gregory Baum, who spent his career trying to dismantle Church teaching on birth control, and who admitted to a 30-year gay affair while married to his wife Shirley, an ex-nun (who apparently had no problem with the relationship).

Philadelphia's Abp. Chaput has been only mildly critical of Fr. Martin while reserving strong criticism for Church Militant, repeating his "public repudiation of the tactics of groups like the Lepanto Institute and Church Militant during our 2015 ramp-up for the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia and the visit of Pope Francis."

At the time, Chaput called Church Militant "divisive" for calling him to account for his honoring of pro-LGBT, pro-abortion politicians (including then-Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolfe, an ardent supporter of Planned Parenthood and the nation's first governor who was once an abortion mill escort) at the World Meeting of Families. In public, Chaput refused to engage with the substance of Church Militant's concerns, instead issuing a press release accusing us of being "divisive," while privately writing staff members calling us "pharisaical," "mean" and "wicked."

Contact Abp. Charles Chaput: absp.cchaput@chs-adphila.org

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