Pope Francis pens preface to Jesuit priest James Martin’s book

Pope Francis penned the preface to the newly launched Italian model of a guide concerning the resurrection of Lazarus by controversial American Jesuit priest James Martin, who has drawn scrutiny for his views about gender and sexuality.

“Jesus isn’t scared of coming close to sinners — to any sinner, even the most brazen and undaunted,” Francis wrote relating to Martin’s guide Come Forth: The Elevating of Lazarus and the Promise of Jesus’s Biggest Miracle, in keeping with a replica of the preface that was written in March and revealed Monday by Vatican Information.

The pope went on to say that Jesus “has one single preoccupation: that no one goes missing, that none are deprived of the possibility of feeling the loving embrace of his Father.”

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Martin’s guide, which was revealed within the U.S. final September, explores the story of Christ’s resurrection of Lazarus as recounted in John 11, which was one in all His final miracles earlier than He was crucified.

“As I learn the cautious arguments and exegeses of the biblical students he cites, it made me surprise how typically we handle to strategy Scripture with the ‘starvation’ of an individual who is aware of that that phrase actually is the Phrase of God,” Francis wrote. 

“The truth that God ‘speaks’ ought to give us a bit of jolt each day. The Bible actually is the nourishment we have to deal with our lives. It’s the ‘love letter’ that God has despatched — since way back — to women and men residing in each time and place.”

Francis went on to write that all Christians are Lazarus, and that Martin roots himself “firmly within the Ignatian custom,” referring to Ignatius of Loyola, who founded the Jesuit order that led the charge against the Protestant Reformation within the Catholic Church in the 16th century.

“We’re his pals, too — ‘lifeless’ as we typically are on account of our sins, our failings and infidelities, the despondency that daunts us and crushes our spirits. Jesus is hardly afraid to get near us — even once we ‘reek’ like a lifeless physique that’s been buried for 3 days,” Francis wrote.

Martin has faced accusations of opposing Catholic teachings regarding sexuality, though he has repudiated them, as noted by the Catholic News Agency. In 2021, he faced rebuke for retweeting a post referring to God as “Her” and suggesting that using female imagery as a representation of God is “theologically appropriate.”

Pope Francis has also recently been in the crosshairs of criticism regarding comments he recently made suggesting that Roman Catholic seminaries have enough “frociaggine,” an Italian slur that can be loosely translated as “faggotry.”

Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, released a statement last week explaining that the pontiff is sorry for using the word.

“The Pope by no means meant to offend or categorical himself in homophobic phrases, and he apologizes to those that felt offended by way of a time period, as reported by others,” stated Bruni.

“As he has said on many events, ‘There’s room for everybody within the Church, for everybody! Nobody is ineffective; nobody is superfluous; there’s room for everybody. Simply as we’re, everybody.'”

Francis also recently drew criticism for comments he made in an interview with “60 Minutes,” during which he suggested that mankind is basically good, prompting accusations of heresy.

He also raised eyebrows for accusing conservative U.S. bishops of exhibiting “a suicidal perspective” by opposing his “efforts to revisit teachings and traditions.”