This week, the Vatican is set to publish a new set of guidelines on apparitions, including Marian apparitions, that is, reports from individuals or groups that the Virgin Mary has appeared to them. There are many kinds of apparitions and visions, but Marian ones predominate in the Catholic Church. The last major Vatican document addressing Read more
On February 15, more than 1,000 mourners — predominantly LGBTQIA+ people of colour — gathered for the funeral of Argentine American activist Cecilia Gentili at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Gentili was a transgender woman of colour who advocated for the health and dignity of sex workers and LGBTQIA+ people. She was also Read more
Natural law has been used to restrict LGBTQ people, according to Fr James Alison, an influential Catholic priest, theologian and writer. Alison (pictured) commented in a recent virtual conversation on the website ‘Outreach’ in its monthly series of virtual talks ‘Outspoken.’ In the conversation with Fr James Martin, SJ, Alison discussed natural law and conscience, Read more
In early July, The New York Times published two articles that had seemingly little to do with one another. One covered the Entomological Society of America’s decision to stop using the terms gypsy moth and gypsy ant. The other was about a new movie by the director Paul Verhoeven featuring an affair between two 17th-century Read more
A leading Jesuit priest has said the Catholic Church is facing the biggest walkout since the child-sexual abuse scandal hit. James Martin, a priest who advocates for LGBT+ inclusion within the Catholic Church, commented following a Vatican statement that clergy must not bless same-sex unions. The Vatican recently released an explanatory note insisting that clergy Read more
LGBT champion Fr James Martin, SJ met Pope Francis on Monday in a private audience in the apostolic palace inside the Vatican. They spoke to each other, seated at the table where the pope meets his high-level visitors. This is the third time Martin, who is known for his pastoral ministry to the LGBT community Read more
Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia is urging caution regarding about information about homosexuality and Catholicism from Fr. James Martin, SJ. He says there is “a pattern of ambiguity” in Martin’s writing and teaching. Martin is the author of “Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Read more
It is not surprising that Catholics are furious about the latest sex abuse crisis. It began, most recently, with accusations of abuse and harassment against the former cardinal-archbishop of Washington, D.C., Theodore McCarrick deepened with the Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing 70 years of abuse in the Commonwealth and, intensified with the former Vatican nuncio Read more
Jesuit priest Father James Martin has been invited to address Cardinal Blase Cupich’s Chicago archdiocese over two nights during the next Lenten season. The invitation comes after Martin had speaking engagements cancelled and negative comments leveled at him by far-right Catholic groups. The ultra-conservatives disapprove of Martin’s recently published book on lesbian, gay, bi-, transgender Read more
The Vatican and Catholic clergy have backed a gay-friendly publication that looks at what the Catholic Church’s relationship with the “LGBT community” should be like. “Building A Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity”, was written by James Martin. Martin is a Jesuit Read more