New Petition to Cancel Fr. Martin’s Speech at Spring Hill College

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DETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) - Pro-gay Jesuit Fr. James Martin will be speaking at commencement for yet another Catholic college.

Spring Hill College is a Jesuit-run Catholic college in Mobile, Alabama. Father Martin will be the keynote speaker at Spring Hill's commencement ceremony on May 5, 2018.

Coalition of Concerned Catholics has put out a Change.org petition to get Fr. Martin removed from the speaker's platform at Spring Hill. The petition states that "faithful alumni, family and friends throughout this country and across the globe call on Spring Hill's leadership to defend the Church by disinviting Fr. Martin."

The petition webpage includes a letter to the president of Spring Hill College, Christopher Puto. The letter states, "Realizing you are aware of the upswell of sentiment from faithful Catholics that see Fr. Martin's homosexualist agenda for what it is, we respectfully request that you rescind his invitation to speak at Spring Hill College."

The letter continues:

His promotion of a homosexual lifestyle free from remorse and penance is diabolical. Thus we will not tolerate the intolerable, nor accept the unacceptable. He employs sophistry and obfuscation to confuse and mislead. His activism is essentially spiritual malpractice committed on the faithful, particularly those Catholics struggling with same-sex attraction, who need the fullness of truth and not disingenuous platitudes.

Chris Shea of the Coalition of Concerned Catholics voiced his objections personally to the leadership of both schools. He told Church Militant in an email Wednesday that he has yet to receive any response.

We also asked Shea about the coalition and its purpose. "The mission of the Coalition of Concerned Catholics," he wrote, "is to prevent Fr. James Martin, S.J. from spreading his heretical advocacy to the Catholic LGBTQIA community, especially at Catholic parishes, events, colleges, universities, seminaries, monasteries, convents, etc."

Father Martin has been traveling the country giving speeches about his recent book, Building a Bridge. The book proposes dialogue between the Catholic Church and the LGBT community.

The book itself, as Fr. Martin often points out, has the approval of some members of the hierarchy and reportedly says nothing to contradict the Deposit of Faith.

However, what faithful Catholics find most problematic about Fr. Martin is not the content of the book. They are bothered by what he says at his talks and seminars, as well as what he posts on social media.

Father Martin said at a talk in September that Church teachings on marriage and sexuality are not "authoritative" anymore since they are not "received" by most baptized Christians.

In an August 29 interview, he argued that ex-gays are failing to lead an "integrated," holistic lifestyle.

"Their own junk inside," he complained, "gets focused outwards on people who are actually trying to live a more integrated life."

A similar online petition is calling on another institution to cancel a talk by Fr. Martin. The Student Action arm of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property is petitioning Misericordia University to disinvite Fr. Martin from its winter commencement ceremony on December 17. The online petition has garnered over 17,000 signatures.

Misericordia University is a Catholic university in Pennsylvania founded by the Sisters of Mercy. The school's name is a Latin word for "mercy." The word misericordia originated as a compound of miser, meaning "pitiful," and cor, meaning "heart."

Read our FAQ on Fr. James Martin.

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