Losing the Deposit of Faith? Fr James Martin, Fulda, and the Perennial Catholic Witness

Losing the Deposit of Faith? Fr James Martin, Fulda, and the Perennial Catholic Witness

In recent weeks, three narratives have intersected to reveal the deeply contested terrain cutting through the Catholic Church. In Fulda, Father Winfried Abel—a priest of more than sixty years—is forbidden from celebrating Sunday Masses after condemning his diocese’s embrace of LGBT activism.¹ In Rome, Pope Leo XIV has privately received both Fr James Martin SJ—widely critiqued for promoting same-sex relationships as “loving and holy”²—and Sister Lucía Caram, a Dominican whose theological interventions frequently provoke controversy.³

Taken together, these episodes illustrate a troubling dissonance: faithful clergy are silenced for defending chastity, while figures celebrated for questioning doctrine are honoured with papal access. The question is not simply about pastoral style; it is whether the Church will preserve the deposit of faith or surrender it to the spirit of the age.

Identity versus chastity
For Martin, ministry begins by affirming self-identity. At Fordham University in 2017, he described same-sex unions as “a loving act” and insisted Catholics must “reverence” them.⁴ By contrast, the Archbishop of Selsey, in his pastoral epistle Omnium hominum, insists that “Holy matrimony is the proper place for sexual expression” and that chastity is “a gift from God… an expression of our love and devotion to Him.”⁵ What Martin calls reverence for relationships, the Archbishop insists must be transformed into reverence for chastity as the divine path to holiness.

Reception versus revelation
Martin has also argued that the demand for chastity “has not been received” by LGBT Catholics, and so cannot be binding.⁶ This makes the authority of truth dependent on democratic assent. The Archbishop counters with the apostolic command: “as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.”⁷ Revelation commands obedience, not negotiation. Fr Abel in Fulda understood this, which is why his clear defence of perennial teaching was punished by his diocese—proof that in parts of the Church fidelity itself is now treated as rebellion.

Blessing sin or blessing God
The same distortion appears in Martin’s response to Fiducia supplicans. He called it “a huge step forward” for same-sex couples,⁸ interpreting it as ecclesial validation. Yet the Archbishop insists that “the sexually immoral person sins against his own body… You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”⁹ The contrast is stark: one uses blessings to ratify disordered unions, the other to call souls back to sanctity.

The body as temple or as playground
Martin has gone further still, telling a homosexual at Villanova University: “I do hope in ten years you’ll be able to kiss your partner [at Mass]. Why not?”¹⁰ Sister Lucía Caram has spoken with similar levity about issues that cut against Catholic orthodoxy, often framing dissent as openness. Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Selsey warns that “the misuse of human sexuality gives into lust, selfishness, wantonness, and ultimately evil; a complete rejection of God and His Will.”¹¹ For him, the body is not a prop for public recognition but a temple of the Holy Ghost.

Charity in truth or false mercy
Martin portrays Christ as if He simply embraced sinners without demanding change, saying in Building a Bridge that “for Jesus there was no us and them; there is only us.”¹² But in John’s Gospel Christ’s mercy includes a command: “Neither will I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no more.”¹³ The Archbishop echoes this balance: “The embrace of chastity must be voluntary and motivated by a genuine desire… The aspiration toward chastity is not easy for anyone… but overcoming oneself is the only way to real and lasting fulfilment.”¹⁴ True charity does not confirm sin; it calls sinners to holiness.

The deeper tradition
This is the perennial witness of the Fathers. Augustine admitted that continence was possible only by grace: “I was bound not by another’s irons, but by my own iron will.”¹⁵ Chrysostom taught that “he who is chaste is like an angel; he who is unchaste is like a demon.”¹⁶ Aquinas explained that chastity “removes obstacles to charity.”¹⁷ These are not optional ideals. They are the essence of the Christian path. As the Archbishop insists: “Chastity enables us to live out God’s law of charity; love of Him and love of neighbour.”¹⁸

A prophetic warning
The juxtaposition of these recent events—Fr Abel’s silencing, Fr Martin’s papal audience, Sr Lucía Caram’s prominence—makes clear that the modern Catholic trajectory is toward recognition without repentance. Yet St Pius X warned in Pascendi dominici gregis that modernism is “the synthesis of all heresies,” striking at the foundations of faith.¹⁹ If the Church continues to elevate Martin’s vision, she risks ceasing to be the Bride of Christ and becoming instead the chaplain of the world.

For Christ never said, “Go, and stay as you are.” He said, “Go, and sin no more.”¹³ To preach otherwise is to betray Him. If the modern Church persists in this false mercy, her candlestick will be removed from its place.²⁰ But there is still a way—the way of the Cross, the way of chastity, the way of charity inseparable from truth. It is narrow and hard, but it leads to life. It is not the way of the world, but the way of Christ. And those who walk in it will know: Haec est Via. 🔝

1. Katholisch.de, report on disciplinary measures against Fr Winfried Abel, August 2025.
2. James Martin SJ, Fordham University Symposium, 5 Sept 2017; Podcast interview with Pete Buttigieg, 24 June 2025.
3. Vatican Press Office, Bollettino, audience list (Sept 2025).
4. James Martin SJ, Fordham University Symposium, 5 Sept 2017.
5. Titular Archbishop of Selsey, Omnium hominum (2023), Chastity.
6. James Martin SJ, Interview with Brandon Ambrosino, 29 Aug 2017.
7. Omnium hominum, Carissimi, citing 1 Pet 1:13–15.
8. James Martin SJ, Outreach, “A huge step forward” (2023).
9. Omnium hominum, Chastity, citing 1 Cor 6:18–20.
10. James Martin SJ, Villanova University Interview, 29 Aug 2017.
11. Omnium hominum, Sexuality.
12. James Martin SJ, Building a Bridge video, 2017.
13. Jn 8:11.
14. Omnium hominum, Conclusion.
15. Augustine, Confessions VIII.5.10.
16. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew 62.
17. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II–II, q.151, a.4 ad 3.
18. Omnium hominum, Chastity.
19. Pius X, Pascendi dominici gregis (1907), §39.
20. Rev 2:5.