In an era of deep ideological fractures, Rev. James Martin, S.J., urges people to build bridges through conversation and human connection.
“All of us need to feel welcome wherever we are. So if you see someone who’s LGBTQ, they want to feel welcome. If you see someone who loves the traditional Latin Mass, they want to feel welcome. If you see someone who’s a refugee, they want to feel welcome. If you see someone who’s poor and white and living in Appalachia, they want to feel welcome,” Martin said. We are all children of God and worthy of dignity, he said.
Martin spoke Friday, August 28, in Geddes Hall, presenting the Institute for Social Concerns’ Rev. Bernie Clark, CSC, ’55, ’62M.A. Lecture in Catholic Social Tradition. Each year a leader in their field is invited to speak on contemporary challenges to justice and the common good.
Martin is a Jesuit priest, a writer, editor-at-large of America magazine and founder of Outreach, a Catholic ministry and website about the experiences of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning Catholics within the Church. He is the author of several books, including his latest, a humorous memoir titled: Work in Progress: Confessions of a Busboy, Dishwasher, Caddy, Usher, Factory Worker, Bank Teller, Corporate Tool, and Priest.
During his first-ever visit to Notre Dame, Martin discussed polarization within the Church and society, warned of the dangers of dehumanizing others and urged connection building. The event was a conversation with Suzanne Shanahan, the Leo and Arlene Hawk executive director of the Institute for Social Concerns.
Even if you disagree with someone on some issues, you can still be friends, Martin said. Never treat others with anything less than dignity. “If you don’t agree with me, that doesn’t mean you’re a homophobe. If you don’t agree with me, that doesn’t mean you’re racist or misogynistic,” he said.
Getting to know others — migrants, refugees, LGBTQ people, traditionalists, progressives — and hearing their stories is what changes people, Martin says.
The priest founded Outreach in 2022 after writing a book, Building a Bridge, in which he called for the Church to treat LGBTQ Catholics with respect, compassion and sensitivity in the wake of the 2016 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people and wounded 58 others.
Martin is widely known and is active on social media, where he engages in discussions about Catholicism, spirituality and regard for others. He says LGBTQ Catholics are full, baptized members of the Church who deserve to be treated with respect. He doesn’t challenge Catholic teachings on marriage or same-sex relations, but calls on Church leaders to get to know LGBTQ Catholics and not view them as religious problems.
He is a frequent target of critics and traditionalist groups, who seek to get his speaking engagements canceled. Martin said he doesn’t consider his work political in nature, any more than Pope Leo XIV is being political when he advocates for migrants and refugees. It’s part of the Gospel and Catholic social teaching, he said. Martin sometimes hears from Catholics who tell him they hope he goes to Hell to find out how wrong he is.
“I try in my own way as a Jesuit priest — with vows and within Church teaching and within the Church and the Society of Jesus — to preach the gospel and to work, as I say, with people on the margins,” he said. “And if truly people feel like that has a political implication, so be it.”
He said he once asked Pope Francis what to do about the people who are so mean about his ministry. He said he was expecting a theological answer, but the pope simply replied that there are Pharisees everywhere.
Martin was appointed by Francis as a voting delegate at the Synod on Synodality, the 2021-2024 process intended to make the Church more collaborative, inclusive and focused on listening.
Martin said he works to let go of the need to be liked by everyone, pointing out that Jesus Christ himself faced his own share of criticism. “It’s not out of a sense of masochism, but to follow Jesus means to be humiliated at some point,” he said.
Faith and justice are not two opposing ways of viewing the world, the priest said. “I really have always been amazed at people who are against social justice. How can you be against a just society? . . . It’s a society that is just for everyone. Jesus calls us to live with people and be with people and stand with people who are on the margins,” he said.
Martin grew up near Philadelphia in a family that was Catholic but not strongly religious. He earned a business degree at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and worked in corporate finance for six years before discerning a religious vocation and entering the Society of Jesus at age 27.
He began thinking about becoming a priest after watching a TV documentary about the Trappist monk Thomas Merton. “It just captivated me, and that was the beginning of the call,” Martin said. “I think one of the things that some people tend to misunderstand is that they think the call is hearing voices or seeing visions, but really it’s this desire. . . . That’s the way that God calls you, through desire.”
Martin wasn’t happy in corporate life. It was a therapist who first asked him: “What would you do if you could do anything you wanted to do?” He said it’s important for young people to be asked that question.
He said his friends were surprised and bet he wouldn’t last six months in a religious order. That was 38 years ago.
Martin’s first visit to Notre Dame included a brief pilgrimage of sorts on the ride over from Chicago. Jack Consolie, ’22, ’25M.Div., assistant director of Outreach, picked up Martin at the airport and they stopped at a local restaurant in Hammond, Indiana, hometown of the priest’s favorite author, the late Jean Shepherd. Then they drove by the author’s childhood home, which still stands. That’s a warm memory, Martin said, because Shepherd’s funny, self-effacing stories about growing up heavily influenced his own writing style.
Martin also will speak at an event at 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 2, in DeBartolo Performing Arts Center that is open to Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College and Holy Cross College students and employees. He’ll give a reading from his memoir and talk with Kathleen Sprows Cummings, ’99Ph.D., the O’Brien Collegiate Professor of American Studies and History and director of the Global Catholic Research Initiative.
The event is free, but requires a ticket. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at the DPAC ticket office starting one hour before the event. See full details here.
Margaret Fosmoe is an associate editor of this magazine.