”The worst kind of marginalization, the worst kind of discrimination and the worst kind of hatred is to claim that someone doesn’t exist. ‘No one ‘is’ transgender,’ says the Diocese of Arlington. Transgender people exist and are beloved children of God.” (from an Aug. 19 entry on Twitter by Father James Martin)
From the introduction to the August 12 letter by Bishop Burbidge:
“In the past decade our culture has seen growing acceptance of transgender ideology – that is, the claim that a person’s biological sex and personal identity have no necessary connection and could in fact contradict each other. According to this view, ‘human identity’ is self-defined and ‘becomes the choice of the individual.’ Consequently, our culture is experiencing a rapid rise in the number of persons claiming an identity contrary to their biological sex. Attempts to accommodate such claims already have resulted in tremendous upheavals in our social, legal, and medical systems.
“This situation presents a serious challenge for all members of the Church because it presents a view of the human person contrary to the truth. It is of particular concern for our young people, as Pope Francis has warned:
“Today children – children! – are taught in school that everyone can choose his or her sex. Why are they teaching this?
“Let us not play with truths. It’s true that behind all this we find gender ideology. In books, kids learn that it’s possible to change one’s sex. Could gender, to be a woman or to be a man, be an option and not a fact of nature? This leads to this error. Let us call things by their names.
“ ‘Gender dysphoria’ is a psychological condition in which a biological male or female comes to feel that his or her emotional and/or psychological identity does not match his or her biological sex and “experiences clinically significant distress” as a result. Situations involving gender dysphoria must always be addressed with pastoral charity and compassion rooted in the truth. Any unjust discrimination or needless insensitivity in addressing such situations must be avoided and/or corrected.
“At the same time, in responding to this question justly and charitably, one cannot deny or obscure the truth of our created nature and human sexuality. Indeed, charity always requires the clear presentation of the truth. As Pope Saint Paul VI observed, ‘[I]t is an outstanding manifestation of charity toward souls to omit nothing from the saving doctrine of Christ.’ From medicine, natural law, and divine revelation, we know that each person is created either male or female, from the moment of conception. ‘It needs to be emphasized, writes Pope Francis, that ‘biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender) can be distinguished but not separated … It is one thing to be understanding of human weakness and the complexities of life, and another to accept ideologies that attempt to sunder what are inseparable aspects of reality….’ ”
(Footnotes removed in this excerpt can be seen in the original letter.)
Amen! Bishop Burbidge, Amen. We are all tempted to do things we should not do. The choice is ours, but so are the consequences. Deconstructing the body to try to be what one is not is not Catholic teaching or even good science. It only leads to the horror of more confusion and lies.
True genital defects are rare and an abnormality. Such people have a right to corrective surgery to make their bodies more normal, but the deconstruction of the bodies of normally developing children and people is a real evil not to be encouraged in any way.
Look jon, priest disagreeing with bishop, care to comment?
Anne TE– Your two posts are really good, to explain this situation! Wish those in top leadership positions would have these views!
And lest someone object to my use of the word “abnormality” in my last post, most all of us have some abnormalities in our bodies — such as an extra bone somewhere, a heart defect or an additional finger on the hand (six fingers) that usually can be corrected.
Yes but if you happen to use that extra disordered finger, that would be an intrinsic moral evil.
Depends on what you used it for.
I am not sure what you are trying to say there instrinsic, but if a person has corrective, not deconstructive, surgery to make him or herself a more normal man or women, I assume he or she could marry the opposite sex if the person can function.
There is nothing hateful in Bishop Burbidge’s or the Pope’s statements opposing the transgender agenda and lobby. In fact, they’re loving responses to men, women and children who are confused. I encourage readers to read Bishop Burbidge’s letter (linked in the article above). As the bishop writes “… a word to those struggling with gender dysphoria. Every one of us has a struggle that is unique. But none of us should feel alone or abandoned in his or her struggles. Like many others, you may feel alienated from your body, as though you are supposed to have a different one. Please know that, although you may struggle with your body or self-image, God’s unrelenting love for you means that He loves you in the totality of your body as well.”
Another resource I’d recommend for adults struggling with same-sex attraction or gender discordance is Eden Invitation at:
https://www.edeninvitation.com/
Pray for those struggling, not only with those issues but with the Church’s teachings as well, including Rev. Martin. If Rev. Martin experiences conversion of mind and heart, he could use his significant platform to influence others toward both truth and love.
The person exists, transgenderism does not. No one is transgender though some suffer from gender dysphoria which is a psychological problem that can be remedied.
Homosexual apologists like James Martin SJ deny this fact and are harming those at serious psychological risk with false compassion. Then shame rests on them.
A grossly cachetic anorexic who maintains she is obese, has a psychological problem, not an obesity problem.
Thanks and praise to our Lord for the improvement of Cardinal Burke. Please keep praying for his full recovery.
Yesterday, Cardinal Burke was taken off the ventilator, and transferred out of the ICU to a hospital room. His fever is gone, and he is reported to have improved a lot. Everyone is fervently praying for His Emminence, “storming Heaven,” for him. Hope he will soon be blessed with a full recovery.
Bishop Burbidge communicates the Catholic Church’s truthful teaching on gender dysphoria clearly but kindly, and condemns “unjust discrimination or needless insensitivity” toward persons in addressing this issue. Father Martin responds with a petulant tirade accusing the Bishop of the “worst kind of hatred” toward such persons and, indeed, claims that the Bishop reads such persons out of the human race.
I ask each reader to contemplate: Whose approach better exemplifies our Savior—the Redeemer Who taught us to love sinners, but Who never watered down the truth that would save them?
I know my answer. Jesus gave it very clearly: “By their fruits you shall know them!” [no pun intended, seriously]
“the worst kind of hatred is . . .”
hatred of God.
Evidence of this hatred is . . .
hatred of God’s creation — you know, like the creation of man and woman.
Got it, James?
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Isaiah 5:20
I really wish that people wouldn’t give Fr. Martin so much attention.
To me: Fr. Martin seeks the attention as he believes he is on the “right side of history,” that is, he awaits the day the Catholic Church joins liberal protestants in embracing the LBGTQ+ agenda and seeks to hasten its coming by such twitter entries as we see above. As the secular culture has moved in the LBGTQ+ direction, Fr. Martin envisions himself as a shepherd bringing the Catholic sheep into conformity with this move. The Catholic Church has been and will be sorely tested thereby: a reckoning has to occur as Catholics have to choose whom they will serve (Joshua 24:15).
Most of us do too. Unfortunately, James Martin has more than 300,000 Twitter followers.
Contrast that with someone like Archbishop Cordileone, who has less that 17,000 Twitter followers. Bishop Burbidge has 20,000.
Martin is an “influencer.” That’s why he makes the news and it’s amplified by those in the media who love his dissent from Christian teaching. Because of that, it needs to be responded to and addressed. He’s got the megaphone.
How many bishops does it take to add up to the number of “followers” Martin has?
I wish we didn’t have to give so much attention to the Taliban, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom. But, they’re all impacting the world.
Fr. Martin has been a media person for a long time, long before “Building a Bridge.”
I believe this is a distraction from evangelization and works of service.
Please consider.
Considered. And, I agree. Maybe you should post that on his Twitter feed for his more than 300,000 followers. I am not one of them and I suspect most California Catholic Daily readers are not either. As the saying goes, “You’re preaching to the choir.”
Not that choirs don’t need to be preached to.
Yes, let us evangelize and serve. (And, evangelization begins with us and our fellow Catholics.)
Bishop Burbidge is excellent. The problem with Fr. James Martin, S.J., is that despite his immoral and heretical books and teachings, he has always been given a place of prestige, honor and respect, in his Jesuit religious order, as well as from the Pope. He has never been reprimanded– nor silenced– for his terrible errors– as he should have been, long ago.
Francis retains Martin,
Martin maligns Burbidge,
Burbidge invokes Francis,
Francis retains Martin.
Don’t burn your Burbidges behind you, I always say.
And James Martin, by adroit use of double speak, confirms he’s communist at heart. Some animals are apparently more equal. I shall pray for his conversion to Catholicism.
Once again there is no such thing as a trans person, the Democrats may think there are Joe Biden thinks there are but they are not, science and DNA and chromosomes show that a man is a man and a woman is a woman. Men cannot give birth to babies it’s illogical and an absolute idiotic thing to say, but the left is stupid and so is the Democrat party. I’m sorry to be graphic but people can cut off their genitalia all they want but that doesn’t change their sex these people are sick and need help and prayer. I find it a sin when I see mothers calling their boys girls and their girls boys and dressing them as such that is child abuse and brainwashing this is what this country has come to.
Fr. James Martin is a person of scandal and division in the Catholic Church. He is spreading the same thing that is described in the Book of Genesis done by the serpent. I pray for his conversion and return to not only common sense, but the sense of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in his life, that the Grace of God may save him from his own “self-will”.
As for the people he ridicules and attacks, I pray for them as well, that the Lord may protect and guide them each and every moment of their lives.
I have often thought of what I would say to Jim Martin if I ever met him. I always go back to a memory of a Jesuit Priest who used to come to the Parish in which I was the Pastor on Sundays to help with Mass.He taught at the Jesuit school Loyola Marymount near Los Angeles. I once asked him where he celebrated Mass when he was not at our parish. He replied that ours was the only parish he helped in. So I smiled and said that I had been in the beautiful chapel at Loyola and that it must be a nice experience celebrating Mass with the people there. He replied: “Well, I don’t do that either. Mass doesn’t interest me that much.” I was sure I had misunderstood, so I asked if he celebrated Mass with the Community or alone. He said: “No, I just don’t like it much.” I was so confused at why a Priest would say that that I blurted out: “Then why the H are you a Priest?” He didn’t have an answer, and then he didn’t have another invitation back to our parish. I haven’t seen him since.
Fr. John Higgins, I do not like celebrity priests because they all fall. And I really do not like Fr. Martin’s remarks on Twitter.
But if you meet him or any other celebrity, treat them nicely. Don’t come at them like all the hearsay and gossip and criticism of them is true.
They are people, too.
Oh, no, cd. Fr. Higgins has a profound priestly responsibility to Almighty God! He must point out Fr. Martin’s works– in an intelligent and reasonable way, of course– and tell him he is doing great and terrible damage to Christ and His Church.
Well, the first thing he could do would be offer him his sympathy for all the people who lie about him online and ask him how he has coped with all the hate.
Then, if he has actually read Fr. Martin’s book or been in one of his audiences, he could say, “One thing that I have difficulty with is…”
Other wise he would have to say “You know, I read somethings online that concern me. They are…”
i don’t know that he is doing damage to the Church. The possibility that he is misleading souls would be the concern.
cd– the work of a priest in the service of Christ is not “baby stuff”– it is a great big manly responsibility– for great big adult men of God. Fr. Martin is a huge Jesuit priest– and he certainly does not need to be insulted with babyish “sympathy” for “baboons” who scribble stuff about him or anyone else, online. When young, I vividly recall a young priest telling married couples, “when the going gets tough– the tough get going.”
cd– Fr. Martin badly needs to learn to lead the LGBT’s the way that the group “Courage” leads them– with honesty and integrity, no “baloney,” and no “babying.”They must face the realities of life, learn to follow Christ no matter what your problems are. Get strong inside, lead a good life, a chaste life, for Christ. Christ’s way will never be easy for anyone. But we all have to follow Him correctly– and He gives each soul the grace to do so.
A lot of gay and trans people have been treated so badly in life by others, especially by Christians.
Fr. Martin’s ministry, while I think it lacks clarity, is a first step in telling despairing people that God loves them.
You may have been raised being told that God loves you.
Some of them have and some of them haven’t. Some have been told that God hates them and that they are going to hell-even before they committed a single gay sex act.
Fr. Martin, through listening, has felt that the great need for this “community” is to reaffirm that they are people and like all people they are loved by God.
He also tells gay and trans people that the Catholic Church is not their enemy.
I agree that a path to holiness should be included in his ministry.
Fr. Higgins,
I’ve often thought that there were priests who didn’t love the Mass, but I’ve never heard it stated. I can’t believe a priest would ever so blatantly admit it.
You guys are a bunch of ignorant conservative traditionalists. You are terrified, and thereby, closed, to God’s ongoing revelation. You should be so concerned about other life issues: social injustices that reek of racism, sexism, and environmental abuses.
cupcake you’re on the wrong site.
Terry, Christians don’t believe in ongoing revelation. All that God wanted to reveal publicly was revealed in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. See the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. And, nothing in the development of doctrine can contradict that. An acorn can grow into a large oak tree and look differently. But, an acorn can’t grow into tofu or a Tesla. God will not now (or ever) reveal Himself as other than the Triune God. He won’t “come out” as four or more “fluid” persons. There is nothing to be terrified about. God loves us all and urges us, in the Scriptures, “Fear not!” (as Saint Pope John Paul repeatedly reminded us). Though you may be terrified, I don’t think most California Catholic Daily readers are. We are, however, alarmed by devastating, destructive, damaging lies masquerading as truth and harming countless misled people.
Terrified you are just an ignorant liberal who does not believe in the natural moral law or objective Truth
Terrified, you are really funny. I am not concerned about social injustice, or reeking undefinable racism or environmental issues because I don’t know what they are and I don’t think you know either.
There is no “ongoing” revelation. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever more.” Hebrews 13:8.
Same Christ, same Ten Commandments, and the breakage of the commandments against fornication, adultery, incest, sodomy and bestiality does pollute the earth. More fights and wars have been cause by people who could not keep their pants zipped or skirts down at the proper time than anything else, besides all the diseases. Lust (sins of the flesh) is the biggest polluter as Our Lady said at Fatima.
Mother Angelica told the truth on Cardinal Mahony, on EWTN TV, seem by millions, worldwide. And the Cardinal crucified her for it. He told absolute lies about the Eucharist. And the Vatican supported him, all the way. But Mother Angelica bravely told the truth, anyway.
Ongoing revelation? Huh?
Love the body God gave you and help it to function the way Nature intended.
Daniel, I agree. And everyone has to make adjustments and get through life. I have seen parishioners with amputations due to accidents, wartime military service, and serious diseases, as well as parishioners with multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and other serious illnesses. And ladies wearing colorful head coverings, because they have cancer and lost their hair due to chemotherapy. Plus, a couple of blind young men, with Guide Dogs. And very sad, parishioners with Alzheimer’s or ALS! And those who have lost everything, in the Calif. fires! The list goes on and on. There are many serious problems in the world, and we all have to make adjustments and move beyond that, and try to lead a good life. The poor Afghans and Haitians are suffering horribly, right now, and need our prayers. We all — including “LGBT’s”– must do our best– and count our blessings!