The world’s second most famous Jesuit, Father James Martin, was in the news recently. He was enthused to tweet:

“Dear friends: Today Pope Francis received me for a private 30-minute audience in the Apostolic Palace, where I shared with him the joys and hopes, and the griefs and anxieties, of LGBT Catholics and LGBT people worldwide…I was so grateful to meet with this wonderful pastor, The only other person in the room during our meeting was his translator.”

30 minutes is a good long time to spend with the Sovereign Pontiff, who could easily answer the five dubia questions in 30 seconds or less.

The photos show the two grinning Jesuits in a meeting room of the Apostolic Palace usually reserved for heads of state, presidents, monarchs, and high ranking cardinals.

Cameras snapped away.

Again according to America, Martin had met Pope Francis twice before. In 2017 Martin was appointed a consultant to the Holy See’s Dicastery for Communications. 

When Archbishop Chaput rebuked Father James Martin’s errors in a gentle but direct way last month, only two US bishops, Bishop Rick Stika of Knoxville and Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield backed him up.

 There are 433 active and retired (arch)bishops in the United States. Why would only ONE speak out against James Martin, and TWO provide public backup? 

Has Pope Francis isolated the behavioral heart of the scandal and taught clearly on it?

What is the real scandal here, anyway?