NEW YORK (LifeSiteNews) — Notoriously dissident, pro-LGBT Father James Martin conducted his first “blessing” of a gay “couple” at his Jesuit residence in New York City following the release of Pope Francis’ new document.
On Tuesday, December 19, just a day after the Vatican issued its Fiducia supplicans that pro-LGBT bishops and groups are celebrating as an explicit approval of same-sex unions, Martin “blessed” Damian Steidl Jack, 44, and Jason Steidl Jack, 38, in a living room at the Jesuit residence in Manhattan.
READ: Pope Francis publishes norms for clergy to ‘bless’ homosexual couples
Martin publicized the blessing in a post on X, formerly Twitter, writing, “Dear friends: I was honored to bless my friends Jason and Damien this morning in our Jesuit residence, according to the new guidelines laid out by the Vatican for same sex couples. But before this, I’ve been blessed by their friendship and support.”
“It was really nice to be able to do that publicly,” he said.
James Martin blessed a gay “married” couple this morning. What do we know about them?
Thread
***Graphic Warning*** pic.twitter.com/t5cxlNh2mm
— StSimonofTrento (@StTrento) December 20, 2023
Apparently, Jason is a theology professor at St. Joseph University in New York, focusing his research on Catholic “ministry” to LGBT persons. The two attempted to “marry” at Judson Memorial Church and are known to frequent gay bars and nude parties. Martin himself has “liked” photos of the couple kissing on the lips.
They were “married” at Judson Memorial church pic.twitter.com/VbjcL3mC3K
— StSimonofTrento (@StTrento) December 20, 2023
Celebrating the Vatican’s new permission to bless same-sex couples, Martin called requests for such blessings “a holy desire for God’s help,” ignoring the grave sinfulness of the homosexual relationship that makes such persons a “couple.” Martin said of the new document, “Rather than saying God doesn’t bless sin, it’s saying, God blesses all of us in our desire for God’s presence in our lives.”
“This is an early Christmas present for the Catholic Church and for so many people who have felt that God really isn’t accompanying them — and that the church, more specifically, is not accompanying them — and now they will feel more accompanied and able to do these things in public.”
“Along with many priests, I will now be delighted to bless my friends in same-sex unions,” Martin wrote in a jubilant post on social media. He noted the document was “a marked shift from the conclusion ‘God does not and cannot bless sin’ from just two years ago” – words that were found in the CDF’s 2021 note banning same-sex blessings, issued under then-prefect Luis Cardinal Ladaria Ferrer, S.J.
The notoriously heterodox Martin had declared he would be offering blessings to people in same-sex unions, in the first official announcement of such, by a member of the clergy after the document’s publication:
The declaration opens the door to non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples, something that had been previously off limits for bishops, priests and deacons. Along with many priests, I will now be delighted to bless my friends in same-sex unions.:
VATICAN: Minutes after #PopeFrancis & Cdl. Fernández’s groundbreaking ruling permitting blessing of same-sex couples, @JamesMartinSJ says text is “marked shift” from 2021 ban on the same.
“Along with many priests, I will now be delighted to bless my friends in same-sex unions” https://t.co/WXMndHvWdg pic.twitter.com/pqizIuJl8A— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) December 18, 2023
Martin doubled down on his intention, decrying attempts to downplay the importance of the Vatican’s document: “It’s a significant change. In short, yesterday, as a priest, I was forbidden to bless same-sex couples at all. Today, with some limitations, I can.” Tuesday’s “blessing” of a gay “couple” was the first the heterodox priest offered.
READ: Vatican’s homosexual ‘blessings’ document invites priests to fudge both doctrine and practice
Speaking to The National Desk, Martin insisted that LGBT Catholics are “delighted” and “overjoyed” at Rome’s change of practice.
Commenting on the joy at the new document shown by those who openly dissent from Catholic teaching on sexual morality, Franciscan Father Thomas Weinandy, OFM, said:
“All those present at such blessings know, without a doubt, that such relationships are sexual in nature. No one is fooled. Actually, they are rejoicing that such sexual relations are being blessed. That’s the point of these blessings. It is not their sexual abstinence being blessed, but their sexual indulgence.”
Rome’s new document “wreaks havoc on the very nature of blessings,” Weinandy lamented. “Attempting immorally to exploit God’s blessings makes a mockery of his divine goodness and love.”
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