Father Martin: "Why do we have to accompany Catholics LGBTQ in the church?"

Reflections of the Jesuit Father James Martin* held in the prayer vigil "Church home for all, starting from borders" to participants in thejubilee pilgrimage of "La Tenda di Gionata and the other associations"In the Church of the Jesus of Rome on September 5, 2025. Transcribed and translated by the volunteers of the Gionata project

I am Father James Martin, Jesuit. I'm sorry I can't speak better in Italian and Spanish, so I will speak in English. But what matters is the heart of the message.

Why do we work and accompany the LGBTQ Catholics? Let's think with some reasons.

The first could call it "secular reason": LGBTQ Catholics are often victims of violence, beating, discrimination and derision. Any person of goodwill would like to be next to these people, who are our brothers and sisters.

The second is a reason that comes from the social teaching of the Catholic Church. One of the pillars of social doctrine is solidarity with people on the margins, with those who are relegated to the suburbs, as Pope Francis has often reminded us.

The third reason concerns the charism of religious orders. We tonight pray next to the body of sant'Ignazio Di loyola, who taught us to look For god in all things and in all people, and next to the arm of st. Francis Saverio, who baptized tens of thousands of people then considered "less than human".

Today we are called to walk with the excluded. And there is no one more excluded in our Church of LGBTQ people.

So we have a centuries -old reason, a reason linked to the Catholic social doctrine and a reason linked to religious charisma. All these are good reasons.

But there is an even more important one: Jesus asks for it, because it is what Jesus himself has done in the Gospels.

I would like to remember three evangelical episodes.

The first is the meeting of Jesus with the Roman centurion in Capernaum (8.5-13 M). The centurion is a soldier of an occupant army, a colonizer. He asks Jesus to heal his servant. jesus Could have said: "Go Away, you belong to an oppressive people, you are not jewish, you are not part of Us". but no. Jesus listens to him, heals his servant, blesses him and praises his faith: "In Israel I have not found anyone with such a great faith".

Jesus deals with this man as Catechism asks us to treat lGBTQ people: With respect, compassion and delicacy. and When i look at my sisters and lGBTQ brothers, i Often think: i never have seen such a great faith.

The second episode is that of samaritan woman on the well (Jn 4,1-42). Jesus meets this woman at noon, the hottest hour of the day. Why is it alone? Because it is excluded. He had five husbands and lives with a man who is not his husband. It has a "irregular" present and present.

According to the conventions, Jesus should not even speak to her: she is a Samaritan, she is a woman, she is "scandalous". Instead, it gives her one of the longest conversations of the whole Gospel and reveals herself to her as a living water. She, who was excluded, becomes the first announcer of the Gospel among the Samaritans, almost an apostle. And there is no word of condemnation by Jesus, only love.

The third episode, my favorite, is that of Zaccheo (Lk 19,1-10). Zaccheo is a chief of publicists, therefore despised and excluded. Not because it was more sinner than others, but because people considered him a traitor. The Gospel describes it as "bass of stature".

Of course, physically, but let's think about how much "little stature" have LGBTQ Catholics in the Catholic Church. He cannot see Jesus because of the crowd: and it is precisely the crowd - as many times the Church - to prevent those who have little voice from approaching Jesus. And then Zaccheo does something difficult: he gets on a tree.

How many people LGBTQ must do tiring things that others don't have to do, just to be able to meet Jesus! And what does Jesus do? He looks at him and says: "Today I have to stop at your home." He does not say: "Stay away from me", but welcomes him, honors him, shares the table with him.

The Gospel adds: "Everyone murmured" (Lk 19,7). Even today, when the church welcomes people on the margins, there are always those who protest, who Is scandalized. it Happened to jesus, it happens To Us too. but Jesus sees that zaccheo was already a generous man, who already shared his assets, And says: "Today salvation has entered this house".

And then, sisters and brothers, there are two places where we can stay: next to Jesus and Zaccheo, or together with the murmurs. I choose Jesus. And I also invite you to make the same choice.

God bless you.

*Father James Martin*, US Jesuit, is writer, theologian and editorial director of America Magazine. He is a consultant of the Vatican Dicastery for communication and very busy in the pastoral accompaniment of the Catholic LGBTQ people. Author of numerous books of spirituality, including Jesus. A pilgrimage. From Nazareth to Galilea (Edizioni San Paolo, 2018) e A bridge to build. A new relationship between Church and lGBT People (Marcianum Press, 2018), carries out a ministry of inclusion, dialogue and reconciliation in the Catholic Church