‘He’s committed to continuing this process [of synodality] of Pope Francis to make the Church more listening, more welcoming, and more inclusive,’ Fr. James Martin said.
(LifeSiteNews) -- Pro-LGBT Jesuit Father James Martin has given a ringing endorsement for Pope Leo XIV.
Over the last 24 hours, Martin, who is in Rome, has published multiple videos and issued several written social media posts expressing gratitude after Leo, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, was elected Pope on Thursday.
“He’s committed to continuing this process (of Synodality) of Pope Francis to make the Church more listening, more welcoming, and more inclusive,” Martin said in a video on X today.
In another post, Martin, who attended the 2024 synod with Prevost and even sat at his table, said, “I know Pope Leo XIV to be a kind, open, humble, modest, decisive, hard-working, straightforward, trustworthy, and down-to-earth man. A brilliant choice. May God bless him.”
During his first public remarks on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Thursday, Leo indeed stated his desire to continue Francis’ agenda.
“To all of you, brothers and sisters from Rome, from Italy, from all over the world, we want to be a synodal Church, a Church that walks, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close especially to those who suffer,” he said.
Earlier today, Martin released a video sharing “six things to know” about Leo. He gleefully reported that he had a “great background” in Peru and said that he is well versed in the Church’s social teaching, which Martin argued “signals a desire to be with the poor, to be with labor, and to be with migrants and refugees.”
Martin and Pope Francis biographer Austen Ivereigh were the subject of an article that appeared in Spanish website InfoVaticana recently.
The article, written by Jaime Gurpegui and re-published on journalist Edward Pentin’s Substack blog in English, recounts Gerpegui’s interaction with the pair.
“While strolling around Borgo Pio, I ran into none other than Jesuit James Martin and Briton Austen Ivereigh, two of the most enthusiastic supporters of Pope Francis' pontificate and tireless defenders of the synodal, inclusive, and dialogue-oriented approach,” he said.
Gerpegui noted that Martin was not interested in speaking to him but that Ivereigh had some terse words about his reporting on then-Cardinal Prevost.
“Very interesting campaign you’re running against Prevost,” he reportedly said.
Gerpegui denied he was doing anything other than trying to expose past allegations leveled at Prevost and that he was only acting “against the culture of cover-up in the Church.”
Gerpegui then stated that the interaction “left no doubt: Prevost was their man, the candidate in whom they had placed all their hopes.”
To learn more about Leo XIV and his past, click here and here.
