(LifeSiteNews) — Brothers and sisters, let’s speak plainly.
Imagine Pope Leo welcoming Hugh Hefner, the world’s most infamous pornographer, into the Apostolic Palace. Imagine them smiling for the cameras. Then Hefner walks out and brags: “I was honored to meet the Pope today. He was joyful and encouraging. He welcomed me.” The world would hear one message: “The Pope blesses pornography.”
Or picture Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted for child trafficking, emerging from a papal meeting and declaring: “The Pope was so warm and supportive. I feel affirmed.” Every headline on earth would say: “The Pope embraces traffickers.”
Or suppose Haitham al-Haddad, the radical preacher who defends wife-beating, posed with the Pope and then crowed: “He confirmed my mission.” Would Catholics sit back and say, “Let’s wait and see”? Never.
And finally, imagine David Duke, the notorious white supremacist, boasting after an audience: “The Pope welcomed me, he was serene, joyful, and encouraging.” Every sane person would see the scandal.
Now, some might ask, “But is it fair to compare James Martin to such people?” The answer is yes. Because the sins Martin promotes—chiefly, sodomy and its normalization—are counted in Catholic moral teaching among the sins that cry out to heaven for vengeance. Pornographers, traffickers, wife-beaters, racists—each attacks human dignity. And so too does the public promotion of what God Himself calls abominable. This is why the comparison holds.
READ: Fr. James Martin: Pope Leo will show ‘same openness’ as Pope Francis to ‘LGBTQ Catholics’
My friends, that is exactly what just happened with James Martin, SJ. He met with Pope Leo, he posed for photos, and then he boasted to the world: “I was honored and grateful. The Pope was serene, joyful, and encouraging. He gave me the same message as Pope Francis: ‘Todos, todos, todos’ — openness and welcome.” And the Pope has said nothing to correct it. The dissenters cheer, the headlines roar, and the faithful are left betrayed.
Now let’s be clear: if Pope Leo had met with Martin to call him to conversion, every Catholic would rejoice. We would weep tears of joy. But true conversion is not a smile and a photo-op. True conversion would require a public recantation of his errors, a public apology to the faithful he has misled, and a life of penance for the scandal he has caused. Anything less is not repentance — it is propaganda.
And why does this matter? Because James Martin has openly:
- Opposed Catholic parents fighting to shield their children from sexualized school curricula.
- Urged Catholics and parishes to celebrate Pride Month — even tying it to devotion to the Sacred Heart.
- Praised and performed blessings of same-sex unions.
- And written books demanding the Church adopt the world’s language and abandon her call to chastity.
This is not pastoral care. This is poison for souls.
And so, when the Holy Father meets him and says nothing, the silence itself becomes scandal. The photo becomes a weapon. The faithful are left confused.
Some say: “Wait and see what the Pope says.” No. The damage is already done.
We do not cry out because we hate the Pope. We cry out because we love him — and because we love Christ’s Church. Silence in the face of error is not mercy. Ambiguity in the face of scandal is not pastoral. The Pope’s sacred duty is to confirm the brethren in the faith — not leave them adrift in confusion.
For the sake of souls, for the sake of truth, and for the sake of Christ Himself, we beg: let the truth be spoken clearly. Let no photo-op replace the Gospel.
