"Culture warriors come in all shapes and shades of opinion," the Archbishop of Philadelphia said. "The bitterness directed at the person of Fr. Martin is not just unwarranted and unjust; it's a destructive counter-witness to the Gospel."
Fr. Martin, media personality and editor-at-large of the Society of Jesus' America Magazine, serves as a consultor to the Secretariat for Communication at the Vatican.
He has been the focus of controversy since the publication of his 2017 book "Building a Bridge," which outlined how he thought the Catholic Church and the LGBT community should relate to each other. His book received the endorsements of several senior Catholic Church leaders, but also criticism from leaders like Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship.
Some critics have faulted his book for avoiding discussion of the Church's teaching on sexuality and for its lack of engagement with Catholics who identify as LGBT and accept Church teaching on chastity and other issues. Others have expressed concern that his public lectures about the book have repudiated Catholic teaching.
Several Catholic organizations had canceled speaking invitations they had extended to the priest. His most recent canceled appearance was at the Theological College, a seminary affiliated with the Catholic University of America. The seminary cited "increasing negative feedback from various social media sites."
Archbishop Chaput reflected on reaction to that controversy, saying professor and Catholic commentator Massimo Faggioli was right to worry about the vitriol that is "profoundly changing the Church," Faggioli wrote in an essay in La Croix's online international edition.