James J. Martin (priest)

James J. Martin (born 29 December 1960) is an American Jesuit Catholic priest, writer, and editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine America and the founder of Outreach.

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.

He received his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business in 1982 and was employed at General Electric in New York City and later at GE Capital in Stamford, Connecticut.

Dissatisfied with the corporate world, and after viewing a documentary on the life of Trappist monk Thomas Merton, Martin became more deeply involved in the Catholic Church and entered the Society of Jesus (more commonly known as the Jesuits) in August 1988.

During his studies to become a Jesuit priest, Martin earned a M.A. in philosophy from Loyola University Chicago in 1994, a M.Div. from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in 1998, and a Th.M., also from the Weston School, in 1999.

He was ordained a priest in June 1999.

His involvement with the 2005 stage production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, written by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, and featuring Sam Rockwell, John Ortiz, Eric Bogosian, and Callie Thorne, is the subject of Martin's book A Jesuit Off-Broadway: Center Stage with Jesus, Judas, and Life's Big Questions (Loyola Press, 2007).

Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review.

On September 13, 2007, Martin appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report to discuss Mother Teresa's fifty-year sense of abandonment by God which had much coverage in the media at the time.

Martin appeared several more times on The Colbert Report, once to discuss Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the U.S. in April 2008, and again on February 23, 2009, to discuss how poverty (or, at least, reducing the importance one places on material goods) can bring one closer to God.

On March 18, 2010, Martin was invited to the program in the wake of Glenn Beck's suggestion that Catholics run away from priests who preach "social justice".

Martin said that "social justice addresses the things that keep people poor" and "asks you why are these people poor."

He added that "Christ asked us to work with the poor. ... In the Gospel of Matthew He says that the way that we're going to be judged at the end of our lives is not what church we prayed in or how we prayed but really ... how we treated the poor."

On August 10, 2011, Martin appeared on The Colbert Report to discuss God's "approval rating" and to promote his book The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life.

On November 9, 2011, he appeared once again to promote his book concerning humor and religion, Between Heaven and Mirth. On February 11, 2013, he went on the show to discuss the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

On September 24, 2013, he was on the show, talking about an interview where Pope Francis said that love, compassion, and mercy are more important than the rules (within a subtext of Pope Francis washing the feet of criminals, wanting a more prominent role for women, saying atheists can be redeemed, not judging gays and lesbians, and that we cannot serve money and God at the same time), and introducing Metallica.

On September 24, 2013, he appeared to discuss income inequality and the Pope's emphasis on economic justice and on the importance of caring for the poor.

Beginning in 2015, Martin has led a number of pilgrimages to the Holy Land with America Media, inspired by the book and visiting many of the religious sites described therein.

His activity for LGBTQ people was intensified after the 2016 Pulse shooting which caused 49 deaths at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

In addition to his work at America magazine, Martin has written or edited more than a dozen books on religious and spiritual topics.

He is a frequent commentator for CNN, NPR, Fox News Channel, Time magazine, The Huffington Post, and other news outlets, and has written several op-ed pieces and blogged for The New York Times.

Following the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, Martin stated that he was "disappointed that more Catholic leaders did not offer support to the LGBT community" in the aftermath of the shooting, and started a series of lectures on how the Church could better minister to LGBT Catholics, which led to his book, Building a Bridge (2017).

The book was hailed by several prelates, including Bishop Robert McElroy as well as Cardinals Kevin Farrell and Joseph Tobin.

Pope Francis appointed Martin as a consultant to the Secretariat for Communications at the Vatican in 2017.

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.

Martin's public outreach to the LGBT community has drawn both support and condemnation from within the Catholic Church.

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.

Martin grew up in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, United States, and attended Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School.

In September 2019, Martin met privately with Pope Francis at the Vatican to discuss the pastoral care of LGBT Catholics.

Martin appeared as a priest, performing two baptisms, in Martin Scorsese's 2019 crime film The Irishman.

In 2021, a documentary film about Martin's LGBT ministry, called "Building a Bridge," directed by Evan Mascagni and Shannon Post and with Martin Scorsese as executive producer, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

Martin has written about anti-Catholicism in the entertainment industry.

He argues that, despite an irresistible fascination with the Catholic Church, the entertainment industry also holds what he considers obvious contempt for the Catholic Church.

He suggests: "It is as if producers, directors, playwrights and filmmakers feel obliged to establish their intellectual bona fides by trumpeting their differences with the institution that holds them in such thrall."

At the recommendation of Drew Christiansen SJ, the then editor of America, Martin undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which he then chronicled in his book Jesus: A Pilgrimage.

The book quickly became a New York Times bestseller and Christopher Award winner, and received positive reviews from a number of public figures including author Scott Hahn, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The Democratic National Convention asked Martin to deliver a closing prayer at their 2020 convention.

Martin is a member of the LAByrinth Theater Company.