Near the end of last month, Pope Francis was heavily criticized for using the Italian word “frociaggine,” which roughly translates to “faggotry,” in a private meeting where he voiced concern that there are too many homosexuals in seminaries.
One response to the pope’s remark came from Lorenzo Michele Noè Caruso, a 22-year-old former seminarian who was discouraged from pursuing the priesthood on account of his homosexuality. In a letter to the Holy Father, Caruso explained his frustration with the Church’s treatment of homosexuals, specifically citing his dismissal from the seminary.
Another, albeit less direct response to the “frociaggine” comment came from Fr. James Martin, who is known for his pro-LGBT activism. In an X post last week that did not mention the Holy Father by name, Fr. Martin wrote:
In my 25 years as a priest and almost 40 as a Jesuit, I’ve known hundreds of holy, faithful and celibate gay priests. They’ve been my superiors, my teachers, my confessors, my mentors, my spiritual directors and my friends. And if you’re Catholic, they’ve celebrated Masses for you, baptized your children, heard your confessions, visited you in hospitals, presided at your weddings and buried your parents. The church would be immeasurably poorer without them.
This came a few hours after Fr. Martin reposted another statement that was critical of Pope Francis’ use of the term. It was originally posted on X by Michael J. O’Loughlin, executive director of Outreach Catholic, a pro-LGBT Catholic news and opinion site founded by Fr. Martin. O’Loughlin wrote: “The apparent ease with which even Pope Francis resorted to using an offensive term and his seeming willingness to equate sexual orientation with an inability to live out one’s vows faithfully show much more work remains.”
In spite of this criticism, Pope Francis has written the preface for Fr. Martin’s newest book, Come Forth: The Raising of Lazarus and the Promise of Jesus’ Greatest Miracle. In it, the Holy Father praises Fr. Martin’s scholarship and biblical literacy.
The book does not address LGBT issues explicitly. Yet, as the Catholic Herald reports, “[S]ome critics say [the raising of Lazarus] is presented in a way that can be seen as a metaphor for the encouragement of people with same-sex attraction to ‘come out’ and ‘embrace’ their sexuality.”
Of course, although the book was published on June 4, the pope presumably wrote the preface much earlier. But Fr. Martin’s promotion of the preface, as a noteworthy piece of writing from the Holy Father, suggests that their relationship has not been severed. In fact, on May 29, a day after seemingly criticizing Pope Francis’ controversial remark, Fr. Martin reposted an article from America, a Jesuit magazine, the title of which reads: “Pope Francis’ remarks about gay seminarians ‘taken out of context and used to divide,’ Italian bishop says.”
Furthermore, the pope has met with Fr. Martin multiple times and invited him to participate in last year’s Synod on Synodality in Rome. It is unclear whether the Holy Father condones every aspect of Fr. Martin’s activism, but he has certainly done more to connect with the more “progressive” wing of the Church than previous pontiffs. Specifically regarding homosexuality, for instance, in spite of having reservations about a potential excess of homosexuals in seminaries, Pope Francis has done much to mend the gap between the condemnation of sin and the love for the sinner.
But what is more striking still is the pope’s response to Caruso’s letter on June 1. According to Crux, “Francis reiterated his position that ‘Jesus calls everyone, everyone,’ telling Caruso, ‘go forward with your vocation. I pray for you, please do it for me (I need it).”
Of course, the Church still holds homosexual behavior — as well as all sexual acts outside the sacrament of marriage — to be sinful. But having homosexual inclinations is not itself a sin. Pope Francis’ encouragement of Caruso suggests that, in spite of having concerns about the potential failure of homosexual clergy to keep their vows, he does believe that they can persevere with the help of Christ and serve the faithful accordingly.
As “Pride Month” proceeds, Catholics (and Christians more broadly) may follow the pope’s example in loving their brethren who experience same-sex attraction without compromising on foundational tenets of the Church’s sexual teaching.
