James Martin | |
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Orders | |
Ordination | June 1999 |
Personal details | |
Born | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic, Latin Church |
Occupation | Jesuit Catholic priest, author |
Education |
James J. Martin SJ (born December 29, 1960) is an American Jesuit Catholic priest, writer, editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine America and the founder of Outreach.[1]
A New York Times Best Selling author, Martin's books include The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life, Jesus: A Pilgrimage, and My Life With the Saints. He is a public speaker on the Ignatian spirituality as inspired by Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
Pope Francis appointed Martin as a consultant to the Secretariat for Communications at the Vatican in 2017.[2][3] In July 2023, it was announced that Martin was among the people specifically invited by Francis to take part in the final phase meetings of the Synod on Synodality.[4][5]
Martin's public outreach to the LGBT community has drawn both support and condemnation from within the Catholic Church.[6][7] This is the subject of his book Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity. In 2021, a documentary film about Martin's LGBT ministry, also called Building a Bridge, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.[8]