James J. Martin (priest)

Martin grew up in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, United States, and attended Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School. He received his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business in 1982 and was employed at General Electric in New York City and later at GE Capital in Stamford, Connecticut. Dissatisfied with the corporate world, after viewing a documentary on the life of Trappist monk Thomas Merton, Martin became more deeply involved in the Catholic Church, and entered the Society of Jesus. During his Jesuit novice years, Martin worked in various settings, including a hospital for the seriously ill in Cambridge, Massachusetts; a hospice for the sick and dying with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity; an orphanage in Kingston, Jamaica; a Boston homeless shelter; and the Nativity Mission School, a Jesuit school for inner-city youth, in New York City. After pronouncing his First Vows in 1990, Martin spent two years working in an outreach program for street-gang members in Chicago's housing projects, and with the homeless at a community center. He earned an M.A. in philosophy from Loyola University Chicago in 1994, a M.Div. from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in 1998, and a Th.M., also from the Weston School, in 1999. For his “regency” assignment, Martin spent two years working with the Jesuit Refugee Service/East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. During this time, he assisted East African refugees in starting small businesses and co-founded a refugee handicraft shop called The Mikono Centre, which is still operational today. Additionally, he worked as an associate editor at America magazine in New York City for one year. == Career ==

Martin is the editor-at-large of America magazine. Martin has written or edited more than a dozen books on religious and spiritual topics. He is a frequent commentator for CNN, NPR, Fox News Channel, Time magazine, The Huffington Post, and other news outlets, and has written several op-ed pieces and blogged for The New York Times. Pilgrimages At the recommendation of Drew Christiansen SJ, the then editor of America, Martin undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which he then chronicled in his book Jesus: A Pilgrimage. The book quickly became a New York Times bestseller and Christopher Award winner, and received positive reviews from a number of public figures including author Scott Hahn, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, and the Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Beginning in 2015, Martin has led a number of pilgrimages to the Holy Land with America Media, inspired by the book and visiting many of the religious sites described therein. ==Media ventures==

Television appearances On September 13, 2007, Martin appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report to discuss Mother Teresa's fifty-year sense of abandonment by God which had much coverage in the media at the time. Martin appeared several more times on The Colbert Report, once to discuss Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the U.S. in April 2008, and again on February 23, 2009, to discuss how poverty (or, at least, reducing the importance one places on material goods) can bring one closer to God. On March 18, 2010, Martin was invited to the program in the wake of Glenn Beck's suggestion that Catholics run away from priests who preach "social justice". Martin said that "social justice addresses the things that keep people poor" and "asks you why are these people poor." He added that "Christ asked us to work with the poor. ... In the Gospel of Matthew He says that the way that we're going to be judged at the end of our lives is not what church we prayed in or how we prayed but really ... how we treated the poor." On August 10, 2011, Martin appeared on The Colbert Report to discuss God's "approval rating" and to promote his book The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life. On November 9, 2011, he appeared once again to promote his book concerning humor and religion, Between Heaven and Mirth. On February 11, 2013, he went on the show to discuss the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. On September 24, 2013, he was on the show, talking about an interview where Pope Francis said that love, compassion, and mercy are more important than the rules (within a subtext of Pope Francis washing the feet of criminals, wanting a more prominent role for women, saying atheists can be redeemed, not judging gays and lesbians, and that we cannot serve money and God at the same time), and introducing Metallica. On September 24, 2013, he appeared to discuss income inequality and the Pope's emphasis on economic justice and on the importance of caring for the poor. The Democratic National Convention asked Martin to deliver a closing prayer at their 2020 convention. Theatre and film Martin is a member of the LAByrinth Theater Company. His involvement with the 2005 stage production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, written by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, and featuring Sam Rockwell, John Ortiz, Eric Bogosian, and Callie Thorne, is the subject of Martin's book ''A Jesuit Off-Broadway: Center Stage with Jesus, Judas, and Life's Big Questions (Loyola Press, 2007). Publishers Weekly'' gave the book a starred review. Martin appeared as a priest, performing two baptisms, in Martin Scorsese's 2019 crime film The Irishman. In 2021, a documentary film about Martin's LGBT ministry, called "Building a Bridge", directed by Evan Mascagni and Shannon Post and with Martin Scorsese as executive producer, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. == LGBTQ+ advocacy ==

Following the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, Martin stated that he was "disappointed that more Catholic leaders did not offer support to the LGBT community" in the aftermath of the shooting, and started a series of lectures on how the Church could better minister to LGBT Catholics, which led to his book, Building a Bridge (2017). The book was hailed by several prelates, including Cardinals Robert McElroy, Kevin Farrell and Joseph Tobin. Tobin wrote that "in too many parts of our Church LGBT people have been made to feel unwelcome, excluded, and even shamed. Father Martin's brave, prophetic, and inspiring new book marks an essential step in inviting Church leaders to minister with more compassion, and in reminding LGBT Catholics that they are as much a part of our Church as any other Catholic." However, Martin's book also received criticism from some Catholics who successfully lobbied for many of his lectures at Catholic venues to be cancelled. In a critique of the book, Cardinal Robert Sarah described Martin as "one of the most outspoken critics of the Church's message with regard to sexuality". Martin himself lauded Sarah's column as "a step forward", since Sarah used the term "'L.G.B.T.', which a few traditionalist Catholics reject", rather than phrases such as "persons with same-sex attraction". In a 2018 column, Martin wrote that he has never challenged the Church's teaching on homosexuality and never will. In 2018, Robert George, founder of the Witherspoon Institute, First Things contributor and co-author of What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense, argued that Catholics should accept that Martin does believe in the Church's teaching on homosexuality. In 2018, David Henderson on Witherspoon Institute's journal and Dan Hitchens on First Things have said that nowhere in his book has Martin affirmed the Church's magisterial teaching to be true. Journalist Frank Bruni said in The New York Times in 2019 that Martin did not "explicitly reject Church teaching" but rather questioned the language in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that describes homosexual attraction as "intrinsically disordered". In 2019 Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia stated that "due to the confusion caused by his statements and activities regarding same-sex related (LGBT) issues, I find it necessary to emphasize that Father Martin does not speak with authority on behalf of the Church, and to caution the faithful about some of his statements." Archbishop Chaput has also described many of the attacks against Martin as "bitterness" that is "unjust and unwarranted," while still calling for "serious, legitimate criticism" of the book's "perceived ambiguities" and inadequacies. Chaput argued that dealing with the substantive issues frankly "is the only way an honest discussion can be had." In 2019 Chaput again criticized the "bitter personal attacks" that have been made against Martin, calling them "inexcusable and unChristian [sic]." While stating that many of Martin's efforts to accompany and support people with same-sex attraction have been laudable, Chaput also criticized Martin for "a pattern of ambiguity in his teachings," and for purportedly asking the Church to modify its teaching that same-sex attraction is "objectively disordered." Martin replied that same-sex relations and same-sex marriage "are both impermissible (and immoral) under Church teaching," and that the reason he does not focus on this "is that LGBT Catholics have heard this repeatedly." Bishop Thomas Paprocki and Bishop Richard Stika supported Chaput's column. Paprocki argued that Martin "correctly expresses God's love for all people, while on the other, he either encourages or fails to correct behavior that separates a person from that very love. This is deeply scandalous in the sense of leading people to believe that wrongful behavior is not sinful." J.D. Flynn, editor-in-chief of EWTN-owned Catholic News Agency, contended that Martin presented in his address a "vision of the human person at odds with Catholic teaching". Flynn wrote that "every initiative" recommended by Martin, such as "Lavender graduation" or "L.G.B.T spiritualities, theologies, liturgies and safe spaces", was designed "to affirm the lie that sexual inclination or orientation is, in itself, identity". In December 2023, when Pope Francis published the declaration Fiducia supplicans, that allowed priests to give non-liturgical blessings to same-sex couples, Martin, described the declaration as "a major step forward in the church's ministry to LGBTQ people" and demonstrated the church affirming same-sex couples' desire "for God's presence and help in their committed and loving relationships". The next day, he blessed a same-sex couple who had married at Judson Memorial Church, a Protestant church. Other Christian Post and Lifesitenews reported that Martin attracted further controversy in March 2021, after he posted a tweet on a reflection from the director of a campus ministry at St. Martin de Porres High School, that referred to God as "her" and suggested that using female imagery as a representation of God is "theologically correct." ==Relationship with the Vatican==

In 2017, Pope Francis appointed Martin as a consultant to the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication. On August 23, 2018, Martin delivered an address at the Vatican's World Meeting of Families in Dublin, Ireland. His talk focused on how Catholics can more effectively engage with LGBT members of their communities, using biblical examples of Jesus interacting with the Samaritan woman and Zacchaeus to illustrate the call to inclusive community. On September 30, 2019, Martin was received by Pope Francis in a private audience in the papal library of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. In June 2021, Martin received a handwritten letter in which Pope Francis praised Martin, writing how, "Thinking about your pastoral work, I see that you are continually seeking to imitate this style of God". In May 2022 Martin sent three questions to the Pope about the relation of the LGBT community with the Church. The Pope answered the three questions. In June 2022 Martin was a participant at the 2022 Outreach LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Conference held at Fordham University, a conference dedicated to outreach and dialogue with LGBTQ Catholics. Martin wrote a letter to Pope Francis informing him of the outcome of the conference. In July 2022 Pope Francis issued a letter in response encouraging Catholics to foster a "culture of encounter" that "shortens distances and enriches us with differences, in the same manner as Jesus, who made himself close to everyone." The Pope also assured Father Martin of his prayers, and invoked the blessing of Jesus upon him and the protection of the Blessed Virgin. On July 7, 2023, it was announced that Martin was among the people specifically invited by Francis to take part in the final phase meetings of the Synod on Synodality. == Views ==

Anti-Catholicism in the media Martin has written about anti-Catholicism in the entertainment industry. He argues that, despite an irresistible fascination with the Catholic Church, the entertainment industry also holds what he considers obvious contempt for the Catholic Church. He suggests: "It is as if producers, directors, playwrights and filmmakers feel obliged to establish their intellectual bona fides by trumpeting their differences with the institution that holds them in such thrall." In a 2021 interview, Martin said, "Even small things, like a New York Times review, contribute to an atmosphere where Catholicism is seen as silly, and I think that makes it more difficult for people to have conversations about faith overall." Martin remarked that anti-Catholic perceptions regarding minor matters are "intimately connected" to "public square" matters "consequential to people's lives" pertaining to Catholicism: "Debate about difficult topics related to religion has to be accompanied by respect. You might want to talk about birth control, abortion, or religious liberty, but do it respectfully. If you are swimming in this culture of disrespect—of mocking and belittling—that makes it harder for people to even know how to approach these topics." On Big Think, Martin commented: "On the one hand are people who say that anti-Catholicism is just as bad and anti-Semitism or homophobia or racism. It's not. Clearly. It's not as virile and not as prevalent. On the other hand are people that say it doesn't exist at all, but it does [exist] basically. I think a lot of portrayals of nuns and priests on TV and in the movies are stereotypical. [...] when you see a priest show up on a TV cop show you know he's usually a pedophile; Nuns are usually portrayed as like ninnies basically or stupid. I mean I would say here are women who kind of built the Catholic healthcare system in the United States and ran universities and but when they come on TV they're portrayed as being idiots [...] [Y]ou hear people taking potshots at priests for being celibate or being pedophiles or being insane or whatever [...] if you portrayed a rabbi or an Imam like that people would rightfully complain, but in a way I think because we live in a largely Protestant culture [and] I think because of the sex abuse crisis and [...] some suspicion about the Vatican and Catholic theology in a sense, anti-Catholicism [has been accepted in America]." Denial of Communion to politicians In 2019, Martin criticized the public denials of Holy Communion to several politicians, including Joe Biden, based on their support for abortion, and to a woman who had contracted a same-sex civil marriage in the Diocese of Grand Rapids. Martin wrote in a tweet that denying Communion to politicians was a "bad idea" because in this case one "must also deny it to those who support the death penalty". Regarding same-sex marriage as public grave sin, Martin argued that there were "many other examples of public acts well known among parish communities." ==Awards==

Martin's book My Life with the Saints (2006) was the winner of a 2007 Christopher Award. Honorary Degrees • 2007: Doctor of Divinity, Wagner College • 2010: Doctor of Humane Letters, Wheeling Jesuit University • 2010: Doctor of Humane Letters, Sacred Heart University • 2011: Doctor of Humane Letters, Le Moyne College • 2012: Doctor of Humane Letters, Saint Joseph's University • 2012: Doctor of Humane Letters, Saint Louis University • 2014: Doctor of Letters, Marquette University • 2015: Doctor of Divinity, Regis College • 2015: Doctor of Humane Letters, Fairfield University • 2015: Doctor of Religion and Culture, Santa Clara University • 2016: Doctor of Humane Letters, Canisius College • 2016: Doctor of Letters, Gonzaga University • 2016: Doctor of Humane Letters, Creighton University • 2017: Doctor of Humane Letters, Loyola University Maryland • 2017: Doctor of Humane Letters, University of Scranton • 2017: Doctor of Humane Letters, Misericordia University • 2018: Doctor of Humane Letters, Spring Hill College • 2018: Doctor of Humane Letters, Loyola University New Orleans • 2019: Doctor of Humane Letters, Seattle University • 2020: Doctor of Humane Letters, Fordham University As of October 2021, Martin serves on the Board of Directors of Georgetown University. ==Publications==

Books authored • This Our Exile: A Spiritual Journey with the Refugees of East Africa (Orbis Books, 1999) • In Good Company: The Fast Track from the Corporate World to Poverty, Chastity and Obedience (Sheed & Ward, 2000) • Searching for God at Ground Zero (Sheed & Ward, 2002) • Becoming Who You Are: Insights on the True Self from Thomas Merton and Other Saints (Paulist Press, 2006) • My Life with the Saints (Loyola Press, 2006) • Lourdes Diary: Seven Days at the Grotto of Massabieille (Loyola Press, 2006) • ''A Jesuit Off-Broadway: Center Stage with Jesus, Judas, and Life's Big Questions'' (Loyola Press, 2007) • The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life (HarperOne, 2010) • Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life (HarperOne 2011) • Jesus: A Pilgrimage (HarperOne, 2014) • Seven Last Words: An Invitation to a Deeper Friendship with Jesus (HarperOne, 2016) • The Abbey: A Story of Discovery (HarperOne, 2016), a novel • Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity (HarperOne, 2017) • Learning to Pray: A Guide for Everyone (HarperOne, 2021) • ''Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus's Greatest Miracle'' (HarperOne, 2023) (with the preface of Pope Francis to the Italian edition) Books edited • How Can I Find God? The Famous and Not-So-Famous Consider the Quintessential Question (Triumph Books, 1997) • Professions of Faith: Living and Working as a Catholic (with Jeremy Langford) (Sheed & Ward, 2002) • Awake My Soul: Contemporary Catholics on Traditional Devotions (Loyola Press, 2004) • Celebrating Good Liturgy: A Guide to the Ministries of the Mass (Loyola Press, 2005) == See also ==