James Martin’s Vatican appointment will only embolden LGBT activists
Fr. James Martin , SJ, editor-at-large for the Jesuit magazine America , has made the headlines twice this past week. First, top Vatican and US church officials backed his forthcoming gay-friendly book , Building A Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity . Then in an unforeseen move, the Vatican named Fr. Martin as a communications consultant to the Holy See’s Secretariat for Communications . Several months preceding all this, Fr. Martin received an award from the LGBT group, New Ways Ministry , a group previously condemned for representing itself as a Catholic organization. His acceptance speech became the broad outline for his new book. In fact, the name of the award he received is, New Ways Ministry’s Bridge Building Award . Catholic dissident, Sister Jeannine Gramick , co-founder of New Ways Ministry, leant her endorsement: “Father Martin shows how the Rosary and the