The role of a priest within the Catholic Church carries a duty clearly outlined in Sacred Scripture: to protect the flock God places under his care. A priest must faithfully administer the sacraments, offer the sacrifice of the Mass, instruct and teach the Lord’s people how to live a godly life by expounding Sacred Scripture, and catechize the laity in the teachings of the Church.
That duty also includes protecting Jesus’ sheep from the wolves sent by the Evil One — Satan, for those unfamiliar with Christian theology — to devour them. A priest does not allow false teachers or those who hold positions that contradict Sacred Scripture and violate clear Church doctrine into the pulpit to instruct others or promote their personal life story.
That is precisely what Father Thomas O’Donald of Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic Church in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, did when he invited the infamous pro-LGBT Father James Martin to speak to laypeople about his soon-to-be-released memoir at the parish. The church also happens to be Martin’s home parish.
Now Father O’Donald is doing his best to defend that decision. Unfortunately for him, there is no defense. Sacred Scripture makes it clear that the Church must urge false teachers to conform their beliefs to the Word of God and the teaching of the Church, or remove them to protect the flock from being led into sin.
Leviticus 18:22 states, “Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.” Scripture leaves little ambiguity here. A Christian cannot engage in homosexuality, and the logical conclusion follows: if Scripture condemns the act, a believer — especially a priest — cannot uphold or validate such behavior. Martin clearly missed that memo.
Leviticus 20:13 reinforces the point: “If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.”
For those who insist the condemnation of homosexuality appears only in the Old Testament, St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:9–11: “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people — none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Plenty more passages exist, but the conclusion remains unavoidable. A man cannot serve as a faithful priest of Jesus Christ while embracing pro-LGBT ideology. The two cannot coexist.
In an email to LifeSiteNews, Father O’Donald claimed that he fully accepts and teaches the Church’s doctrines on sexuality. He added that he holds reservations about statements Father Martin has made on homosexuality that have caused confusion among the faithful. Still, he defended the invitation, insisting Martin would speak only about his book, Work in Progress: Confessions of a Busboy, Dishwasher, Caddy, Usher, Factory Worker, Bank Teller, Corporate Tool, and Priest, and about his upbringing in the area — not sexual issues.
What Father O’Donald fails to grasp is that no separation exists between James Martin and his views. Inviting him to speak validates him and, by extension, what he believes, whether O’Donald intends that outcome or not. A petition launched by Tradition, Family, and Property has already gathered more than 15,000 signatures calling for the event’s cancellation.
“We are hosting Father James Martin at Epiphany for a narrow and specific purpose: to speak about his upbringing in Plymouth Meeting, his roots at Epiphany as his home parish, and his new memoir. This is not an event on LGBTQ issues, ‘same-sex marriage,’ or any contested moral questions,” Father O’Donald wrote in the email to LifeSiteNews.
Context matters. Over the past year alone, Martin has compared schoolchildren reading books promoting homosexual “marriage” to Jesus teaching in parables, blasphemously likened former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s — who is “married” to another man — “parenting” to the Holy Trinity, and celebrated a confirmation Mass for openly homosexual ABC News correspondent Gio Benitez, who also lives in a homosexual “marriage,” according to the report.
Martin has also attacked Catholic teaching that identifies homosexuality as disordered, calling it “cruel” and claiming Church doctrine on the subject lacks authority. He has cast doubt on Scripture’s condemnation of sodomy and asserted that homosexuality represents “the way God created” people.
Even more troubling, Martin has expressed hope that same-sex spouses will one day feel comfortable kissing during the sign of peace at Mass. Given these statements, Martin should never receive an invitation to speak before God’s people. One must seriously question why the Church still allows him to retain the title of priest at all, given his open hostility toward Catholic teaching.
LifeSiteNews summarizes the Church’s position clearly:
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law.” The Catechism clearly states that homosexual activity can never be approved and reiterates that “homosexual persons are called to chastity.” Homosexual acts constitute mortal sins; therefore, anyone who commits them without repentance through the sacrament of Confession places his soul in danger of hell. The Catechism also teaches that the homosexual inclination itself is “objectively disordered.”
