James Martin: Gays ‘treated like dirt’ by being asked not to receive Communion
In a podcast with JD Flynn, James Martin erroneously called denial of Holy Communion to sexually active homosexuals mistreatment rather than fidelity to Jesus Christ.
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Wed Oct 14, 2026 - 12:15 pm EDT
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(LifeSiteNews) — Notoriously heterodox Jesuit priest Fr. James Martin, S.J., claimed in a recent interview that homosexuals are “treated like dirt” in parts of the Church, citing as an example the refusal of Holy Communion when a priest knows someone is “doing whatever and you’re gay.”
In the October 12 episode of The Pillar Podcast titled “On bridges, with Fr. James Martin,” hosted by JD Flynn, Martin described supposed experiences of “LGBT Catholics,” saying that “in some parts of our country … you’re just treated like dirt. And sadly, in some parts of the Church, I think that’s the part that many people don’t see.”
Martin continued by whimsically acknowledging the host’s point that faithful Catholics can be calumniated as “homophobic” for rejecting so-called “same-sex marriage,” but then without providing concrete evidence, he asserted that homosexuals have faced “physical violence” and harsh ridicule in the Church: “You know, f-you,” and “You don’t belong in this Church.” He then immediately slipped in, “You know, you can’t get Communion…”
When Flynn interjected, “not because you’re holding yourself out as married, but because you identify,” Martin appeared to acknowledge that he was talking about an active homosexual being denied Holy Communion: “No, because the priest knows that you’re doing whatever and you’re gay.”
This technique of slipping-in fidelity to the moral teaching of the Catholic Church into a category of sin is consistent with Martin’s long record of dissent in promoting homosexual sodomy in the Church.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered,” “contrary to the natural law,” and “acts of grave depravity.” Further, those conscious of unrepented mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion (CCC 2357, 1385, 1415).
St. Paul warns that whoever “eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:27). Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law requires that those “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin” not be admitted to Holy Communion.
All of these doctrines which proceed from God’s revelation are ordered toward the eternal salvation of every sinner, including those who struggle with homosexual sins, for as the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church confirm, the “eternal fire” of hell exists, and “immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell” (CCC 1035).
Thus, the Church’s perennial call is for all to have recourse to God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Confession and through these transformative graces “gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection” (CCC 2359).
To profess the Catholic faith is to assent to all of these doctrines; to reject any of them while claiming to be Catholic is a grave contradiction.
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Nonetheless, Martin’s long track record of heterodox positions includes his criticizing Catholic doctrine on disordered sexual inclinations as being “cruel,” suggesting that Catholic doctrine on homosexuality is not “authoritative,” casting doubton the biblical condemnation of sodomy, and falsely claiming that homosexuality is “the way God created” people. He has further said he hopes homosexual “husbands” will one day feel comfortable to kiss each other during the sign of peace at Mass.
Over the past year-and-a-half alone, Martin has compared schoolchildren reading books promoting homosexual “marriage” to Jesus sharing parables, blasphemously compared former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg’s – who is “married” to another man – “parenting” to the Holy Trinity, and celebrated a confirmation Mass for homosexual ABC News correspondent Gio Benitez, who is also in a homosexual “marriage.”
Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, accused Martin of “heresy” in 2022.
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- Catholic doctrine on homosexuality
- Fr James Martin controversy
- Fr. James Martin
- Fr. James Martin S.J.
- Holy Communion
- Homosexuality
- James Martin
- JD Flynn
- Respecting the Body and Blood of the Lord: When Holy Communion Should Be Denied
