What does Fr. Martin believe?

Last updated on: August 30, 2018 at 12:52 pm by Jane the Actuary

What does Fr. Martin believe? 2018-08-30T12:52:49-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Fr. James Martin, as many readers will know, is a Jesuit priest best known for promoting acceptance of, as he would say it, the LGBT community. He’s always been coy about what he believes specifically, and whenever Facebook-friends would share his posts on his Facebook page, I noticed that many of them tended to be links to controversial statements in which Martin would comment cryptically, never quite saying anything that would clearly contradict Catholic moral teaching, never quite affirming it, either.

But the article he has in America today bothered me enough to merit writing about. It’s called “The witch hunt for gay priests” and is the same sort of demand that Catholic priests with a homosexual orientation be able to speak openly about their present situation, past experiences, and the like, so as to combat erroneous beliefs that all such men are child abusers, that is his ongoing theme.

But he’s very careful with his language. He says:

What I mean by “gay priests” is ordained priests with a homosexual orientation who are living their promises of celibacy (and in religious orders, their vows of chastity).

and later repeats this distinction:

the example of the many hardworking, healthy and celibate gay priests (and chaste members of religious orders)

and again:

More to the point, I know hundreds of gay priests, and I can say with honesty that all of them strive to keep their promises of celibacy and vows of chastity, none of them conspire with other gay priests, and yet many of them are demoralized by this increasingly hate-fueled witch hunt.

But this wordplay is a bit too clever.

What is celibacy? Here’s the definition at the National Catholic Register:

Celibacy is the state of not being married.

People associate it with the priesthood because, in the Latin rite of the Church, the norm is for priests to be unmarried—to be celibate.

However, properly speaking, anyone who is unmarried can also be said to be celibate.

It comes from the Latin word caelibatus, which simply means “the state of being unmarried.”

And chastity? That’s the virtue of sexual purity. A single person lives out the virtue of chastity by not having sexual intercourse or other inappropriate sexual activity. A married person lives out the virtue of chastity by such actions as avoiding contraception.

And, as the Register points out, “diocesan clergy are obliged to observe celibacy and continence [refraining from sexual activity], but it is not the product of a vow the way it is for those in the consecrated life.”

So why is Martin making this distinction between celibacy and chastity? Perhaps he’s simply striving for precision. But it also means that he is carefully avoiding making the statement that his gay priest friends are avoiding sex. What does he think about the claims that there are significant numbers of gay priests (and gay seminarians) who are having sex because they reject the church’s moral teaching? He doesn’t tell us. In fact, he is writing in a manner that enables his readers to assume that he is speaking of chaste priests, if they are not aware of the distinction between celibacy and chastity.

This is devious. This suggests that priests — or by extension any of the rest of us — are not bound to Catholic teaching on sexual morality unless we specifically make a vow or promise.

And maybe these claims are all exaggerations. But if Martin is carefully parsing his words to ensure that he avoids telling us, who can know?

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jim_Martin2.JPG; By Kerry Weber (photosub 2015040610018739) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Uncategorized

Fr. James Martin

Previous Post

August 28, 2018

Life imitates the Bee, Cardinal Cupich edition

Next Post

September 4, 2018 In which Cupich is an *** -- and a clericalist

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said: "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Peter Jesus James Paul