Did Fr. James Martin inadvertently affirm Catholic Teaching on Gender?

It seems Fr. Martin found out that gender-bending saints and ‘anti-trans’ policies at Catholic schools don’t mix

UPDATE:

Fr. Martin’s original tweet/comment, which was previously deleted, has been posted on Twitter by Mr. Kennedy Hall (@KennedyHall on Twitter). I’ve now provided it in this post, and some of the article has been revised for clarity and accuracy.

Yesterday Fr. James Martin retweeted an article—and added his own supportive comments—which suggested that three saints’ ‘gender bending’ (my words) casts a shadow over how diocesan policies in Catholic schools treated trans people.The original tweet, comment and article were deleted following my comments to them, but a screen grab of the original tween is provided below

UPDATE: Here is a screen grab of the original post retweeted by Fr. Martin. He included additional comments of his own when he quoted/retweeted this. I allude to those comments in this article, but only from memory because his original tweet is gone so I’m not able to provide it. Below is the best I can offer.

My comments pointed out that the saints being mentioned (in the article, or in his comment) did not demonstrate the legitimacy of gender theory but, in fact, said the opposite—that women were indeed women and not men.

One saint mentioned by the article (or may have been Fr. Martin, or both, I can’t remember…it’s deleted!) was St. Joan of Arc, who cut her hair and ‘dressed as a man’ to join the military. Here was my response to Fr. Martin’s quoted tweet.

“Another problem with Fr. Martin’s position is that Joan of Arc never claimed to be a man”

Joan of Arc dressed as she did to join the military. The military is not a school. There are policies in place at Catholic schools that require teachers, staff, and even students to uphold Catholic teaching and, in some cases, certain biblical and doctrinal principles. The reason for that is Catholic schools are places of learning and formation. Catholic schools can’t be effective institutions of learning or formation if the teachers, staff, or students are permitted to act in defiance of fundamental Catholic and Gospel principles. The military isn’t a place of formation and learning. Schools are! It’s an important difference. Another problem with Fr. Martin’s apparent position is that Joan of Arc never claimed to be a man.

A second saint mentioned was a woman who grew a beard in order to keep men/suiters uninterested in her. I believe that saint was St. Wilgefortis, who you can read about here and also here. St Wilgefortis took a vow of virginity. The beard was to dissuade men from pursuing her. She also never claimed to be a man or anything other than a woman.

I don’t remember the third saint’s situation, but what they had in common with the first two saints was that she also wasn’t dressing as a man out of any gender identity crisis. None of the women talked about either in the article or in Martin’s tweet claimed to be men. They were simply women who, for one reason or another, thought it prudent to appear as men. But they never claimed to be men!

Here was my second comment addressing the general error of the article, and Martin’s comments:

It appears that Fr. Martin did not like my comments! I was blocked the next day, Martin deleted his tweets, and the article was deleted by whoever originally published it. It’s possible that Fr. Martin blocked me for some other reason, but I have no way of knowing. I’m only offering what the very-strong evidence and timeline suggest.
1) I was blocked following my comments. 2) He deleted the original tweets. 3) The article was deleted. Draw your own conclusions.

So did Fr. James Martin affirm Catholic thought on gender after all? Absolutely! I think he just didn’t realize it until it was pointed out. And it seems that the moment he was made aware of it, he deleted the tweet and then shot the messenger. If Fr. Martin, Outreach Catholic, or anyone else connected to the article believes these saints teach us something about gender policies at Catholic Schools, it can only be this: Women who dress as men are still women and should be treated that way. Because the three saints in the article never claimed to be men but women. Women who masculinize their appearance are still women because St. Wilgefortis still lived as a woman despite her beard. They may have dressed as men or were disguised as men, but they were still women who never claimed to be men because women are women. Those are the only logical conclusions to what Fr. Martin put forward in his posts yesterday. I merely pointed it out. It was they who provided the material.

A lot of people ask if Fr. James Martin is a heretic. I don’t know because he’s very crafty about his flirtations with heterodoxy and heresy. He’s not crazy, but he often bends and twists truths, facts, and Catholic teaching to suit his theological whimsy. And that’s very dangerous.

ABOUT THE BLOCK

This tweet below is an example of times when I backed up Fr. Martin. I didn’t always challenge him, I sometimes supported him.

I’m a little annoyed and very disappointed that Fr. Martin blocked me. There were posts and articles that I voiced disagreement with, but they were ordered and rational comments with substance and/or supporting quotes from the Catechism or a saint. My disagreements were firm but always respectful, without name-calling, “YELLING”, or ad hominem attacks. But there were also tweets of his that I was supportive of, added positive or supporting comments to, or clicked “Like” on. It’s pretty evident from my activity that I’m fair and open-minded and not a heckler. But what I think Fr. Martin didn’t like was that he got called out a little too sharply on an issue that he takes very seriously. I pointed out that the evidence he used to support gender theory or gender-affirming policy in Catholic schools actually supports the Catholic principles that he seems to be in opposition to: God made men and women, and nothing we do to our appearance or to our bodies can change what God made.

When you’re lying, you have to silence the truth-tellers. That’s the only way heterodoxy survives, and it’s the only way Satan maintains his grip on the hearts and minds of God’s people. Heterodoxy is of diabolic nature. Stay true to the faith. Pray for the Church.

Ave Maria, Virgo Fidelis