Father Martin Continues Building Bridges

In a recent talk at Georgetown University, Jesuit Fr. James Martin reflected on his involvement with LGBTQ+ advocacy, Pope Francis’s attitude of welcome, and the inspiration that LGBTQ+ Catholics’ commitment to faith offer the church

Father Martin with one of the attendees at the Georgetown event.

The event titled “Building Bridges: The LGBTQ+ Community and the Catholic Church”  was moderated by Kim Daniels, director of Georgetown’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life. 

According to The Hoya’s report on the event, Martin reflected on progress made at all levels of the Church regarding LGBTQ+ inclusion and advocacy and outlined strategies to help expand outreach efforts. His talk built upon ideas from his 2017 publication, Building a Bridge,which explored ways the Catholic Church and the LGBTQ+ community could reconcile with each other.

As an indicator of progress made, Martin praised steps taken by Pope Francis:

“He’s the first pope ever to use the word ‘gay.’ His five most famous words in English are, ‘Who am I to judge?’…He appointed the first openly gay man to a Vatican commission, Juan Carlos Cruz…He meets regularly with transgender Catholics who are brought to him every month, right? He has talked about parents not kicking out LGBTQ people.”

While some might argue that these actions are  not enough and that progress is too slow, Martin reflected that changing long-held attitudes is a slow, gradual progress. The Church is a global reality, and progress looks different depending on where you are starting from. Martin observed:

“In parts of the world like sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the subcontinent, it’s a big deal, and there was a lot of pushback. So that’s one thing we have to keep in mind for all of us who are Catholics, that it is a universal church, and when we push a little bit here, it seems like pushing a lot over there.”

The Jesuit priest pointed to the Synod on Synodality as another indicator of hope, drawing out the significance of the meeting as a chance for dialogue amongst religious leaders and laypeople concerning topics including the role of women in the Church and LGBTQ+ inclusion. Though this synod was the 16th such gathering called by a pope, this was the first instance when women were allowed to vote on resolutions, a change that Martin sees as monumental:

“One bishop said to me, ‘Do you see what’s happening?’ I said, ‘No, what?’ ‘We’re in the Vatican. We’re at a meeting of the synod of the bishops. The Pope is with us, and a woman is running the meeting.’So it’s just these kinds of steps forward that made one bishop say to me, ‘We can’t go back. We can’t go back.’”

For the Georgetown community, the impact of the event was palpable. For Mary Greer, a 65- year old member of the surrounding community, the event was her first introduction to Martin’s advocacy, and it impacted her greatly:

“I always say I’m a conflicted Catholic, trying to find a connection to what I feel like will always be my faith, as a gay person and someone that struggles with the institutional church…But just as recently as yesterday, I think he published on his social media a statement about transgender people, and I just felt like it was just so loving and Christ-like. I was so excited to come and hear him speak — I didn’t expect to be as nourished spiritually as I was, and I am so grateful for that.” 

For CC Mesa, a member of a queer Catholic faith community at Georgetown, the event was a refreshing change of pace and a balanced reflection of the reality faced by LGBTQ+ Catholics. She noted:

“I feel like often when we get into these conversations and these writings about LGBTQ+ people in the Catholic Church, it tends to focus on the positive a lot, which is needed. The Lord knows we need hope at this current and present moment in time, right?

But touching on the anti-LGBTQ comments, saying that exists and that is part of the struggle and that ‘You can get blue in the face arguing against these people, but until they are confronted with the very real existence and the very real love of the LGBTQ community, they can’t change,’ that surprised me in a very positive way.”

For Martin, the enthusiasm and participation of so many students that made the event successful: 

“What stood out for me was the number of students that were there, and how interested they were about living out their faith lives and being a welcoming community. I found that really inspiring.” 

–Phoebe Carstens (they/them), New Ways Ministry, February 22, 2025