This article first appeared on Catholic Stand.
Over the weekend, Father James Martin, a popular Catholic priest known for his seemingly unbridled support for homosexual behavior, tweeted, “Pete Buttigieg is married.” His Tweet was a response to a Catholic commentator’s assertion that Buttigieg’s so-called marriage is “legal fiction.”
Both Martin and the commentator should clarify their statements. In reality, Buttigieg’s “marriage” is legal non-fiction because our misguided federal government recognizes it in the recently signed Respect For Marriage Act. But its recognition is unjust because his “marriage” is not real. Allow me to demonstrate by way of a short analogy.
If the federal government enacts a law that recognizes unicorns as American citizens, the law is real and their recognition is legal non-fiction (it is formally signed into law), but their recognition is based on pure fantasy. Thus, the law is unjust.
The same is true for gay “marriage.” And this is a problem for Martin and other Christians who say they follow the Truth, Jesus Christ, but affirm teachings that are diametrically opposed to reality. In other words, they embrace lies and fantasy rather than reality. See Catechism paragraphs 1897 to 1904 for more on just and unjust laws.
Why This Priest Is Wrong
Martin and many others fail to understand or are outright apathetic about reality, natural law, and the plain words of Scripture. They reject what should be plain to them, namely, that marriage is between one man and one woman. The reasons for this follow:
Man is clearly made for woman and woman for man. The sperm’s and ovum’s purposes make no sense otherwise. The sperm is clearly designed to seek out and fertilize the female’s ovum even if it cannot accomplish this task due to age, disease, or some defect. And the ovum is designed to be fertilized by the sperm.
Therefore, the sexual act is designed to get the sperm to the egg. In the sexual act, the man and woman truly unite as their two halves of a reproductive system join together as one, something two people of the same sex cannot ever accomplish.
Since the sexual act is designed for union and for procreation, marriage is a preparatory, covenantal promise in which a man and woman pledge lifelong fidelity, reciprocal care, care of their potential children, and care of society (familial, secular, and ecclesial). After all, human beings are not just independent individuals. They are born into families and societies and are designed to participate in the common good.
Also, the mother and father must be prepared to provide their child with a lifelong example of female and male complementarity. They have a duty to show their child how a good man and woman should live and how they should love one another through the good times and the tumultuous ones.
So, Martin is wrong about Buttigieg being married. Buttigieg is no more married than a unicorn is a U.S. citizen. This priest continuously seeks to confuse others by publicly supporting homosexual behavior.
The Priest’s Feigned Surprise
In a follow-up Tweet, Martin wrote, “Surprised this got so much attention,” as if he intended for it to not receive attention. But people post on Twitter precisely because they hope or believe that their messages will receive attention. Why else would they post on such a popular public forum?
The priest knew his Tweet would garner attention, and that’s exactly what happened. His Tweets not only show that he is a disingenuous priest whose mission includes contradicting Catholic/Christian teaching, but his feigned surprise also shows that he is willing to lie for his cause. He must not be trusted as a teacher of the faith.