November 27, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — After Fr. James Martin, SJ posted a tweet featuring a painting drawn from a series of blasphemous homoerotic works depicting the life of Jesus as if he were a gay man, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the United States and Fr. Martin’s superiors have chosen not to publicly rebuke him.
Through their silence, over 400 U.S. bishops once again have given the impression that Fr. Martin speaks with authority on behalf of the Church. They have lent tacit approval to the anti-Biblical notions that Jesus can be viewed as a gay man, that the homoeroticizing of the passion of the Christ is acceptable, and that the resurrection is all about Jesus rising “to enjoy homoerotic moments with God.”
Blasphemy, if it involves homosexuality, is evidently no big deal. This is an odd stance for our bishops, whose credibility is still reeling as revelations of priest and prelate homosexual abuse continue to rock the Church, undermining the trust of the laity and many priests.
The painting Martin included in his tweet is one of a set of 24 by homosexual artist Douglas Blanchard, used to illustrate a book titled, “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision.”
Amazon describes the book by author Kittredge Cherry and illustrated by Blanchard:
Meet Jesus as a gay man of today in a contemporary city with The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision. In stunning new images, the modern Christ figure is jeered by fundamentalists, tortured by Marine look-alikes, and rises again to enjoy homoerotic moments with God.
Fr. Martin knew exactly what he was doing by incorporating the painting of an effeminate Jesus turning over the money changers’ tables, because in a subsequent tweet he credited the artist: “Image, Douglas Blanchard.”
Gospel: Today Jesus drives the money-changers from the Temple (Lk 19). NT scholars say this was one of the main events that precipitated his execution. Yet Jesus is not cowed by opponents. Another Gospel says “zeal” for his Father's house “consumes him.” Also notice that Jesus… pic.twitter.com/MRGpHLBcle
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) November 22, 2019
LifeSiteNews reached out to dozens of bishops offering them the opportunity to publicly rebuke Martin’s troubling tweet.
Not one chose to comment. Not one.
LifeSiteNews also reached out to Fr. Martin’s Jesuit Provincial; New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who heads the archdiocese where Martin lives and works; the Vatican Dicastery for Communications, where Martin was appointed as a consultant by Pope Francis; and the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB).
We asked each one: “Do you or do you not endorse Martin’s public approval of depictions of Jesus as a gay man?”
Their response: Dead silence.
History quickly repeats itself
This fall, through their silence, the U.S. bishops and the Vatican have been handing Fr. Martin one victory after another.
Martin is the greatest force for the normalization of homosexuality and transgenderism in the Catholic Church today, and he continues mostly unchecked.
In September, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM Cap, issued an important public correction challenging Fr. Martin’s pro-LGBT work.
In his polite but firmly worded statement, Chaput warned his diocese — and by extension the entire Catholic Church — “regarding the ambiguity about same-sex related issues found throughout the statements and activities of Father James Martin.”
Archbishop Chaput created a golden opportunity for the bishops of the United States to stand shoulder to shoulder against Martin’s relentless promotion of gay liberation theology. It was a chance for our American bishops who have been pummeled by the priest and prelate homosexual abuse scandal and cover-up for over a year now to show a united front to stop Martin in his tracks.
In the end, just four of Chaput’s brother bishops — Bishop Richard Stika of the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee; Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois; Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco; and Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska — backed him up with public statements of their own condemning the grave moral error of Martin’s pro-LGBT program.
The vast majority of U.S. bishops gave Fr. James Martin a huge victory with their deafening silence on his LGBT advocacy.
A ‘middle finger’ to faithful Catholics?
Just 11 days later, Fr. Martin joined Pope Francis at the Vatican for a highly publicized meeting, bolstering the credibility of Martin’s pro-LGBT advocacy.
The private audience took place for over 30 minutes in the papal library of the Apostolic Palace, and America magazine interpreted the meeting as a “highly significant public statement of support and encouragement” for the American Jesuit. Martin himself saw it as “a sign of the Holy Father’s care for L.G.B.T. people.”
One Catholic official who insisted on anonymity told LifeSiteNews that following so quickly on the heels of Archbishop Chaput’s public correction of Martin on which most other bishops were silent, the Jesuit priest’s well-publicized meeting with the Pope was not only a “victory lap,” it was Martin giving his “middle finger” to his critics who seek to defend the teaching of the Cahtolic Church.
Again, at a pivotal moment — as the future direction of the Church regarding the aggressive infiltration of LGBT ideology hangs in the balance — the bishops of the United States have squandered an enormous opportunity to shut down pro-gay Fr. James Martin, SJ.
Their silence gives the greenlight to Martin to continue to speak out with impunity — with no fear of rebuke — as he seeks normalize sodomy and transgenderism within the Catholic Church.
