(LifeSiteNews) — This past weekend, I had the unfortunate task of attending a discussion by the notoriously heterodox and pro-LGBTLMNOP Father James Martin at his native parish, Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic Church, in freezing Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.

Part of me was excited to go and perhaps catch him saying something heretical, a “gotcha moment” I would capture on my phone and old-fashioned backup recorder, and part of me was hoping the event would be canceled so more faithful wouldn’t be scandalized by him. Well, that was just not meant to be.

Despite a Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP) Student Action petition garnering over 20,000 signatures, LifeSiteNews’ critical coverage, and, as I’ve been told by reliable sources, a ton of phone calls and emails to both the pastor, Father Thomas O’Donald, and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia imploring them to reconsider, the event went on as scheduled.

So I traveled across the Keystone State to a (surprisingly) packed church, as Martin read from his memoir and blabbered for almost an hour and a half about how much he loved the local malls, mowing the lawn, and bugs as a kid.

He also discussed how his non-Catholic friends had assigned him his Lenten penance for years, and my personal favorite was when he mentioned how he used to think Santa Claus was more than Jesus as a kid because, unlike Our Lord, the same man who died on a cross for him, Santa Claus usually gave him what he wanted. (Yes, I know it’s normal for children to adore Santa more than Jesus but considering Martin’s track record as a priest I found this anecdote interesting for a number of reasons you can ponder).

But, notably, the “rainbow Jesuit” didn’t utter one heresy or contradict Church teaching in any way. You may think this was a good thing, and of course it is, but as I will explain below, the headline here is that he really didn’t need to.

PHOTOS: Dozens of Catholics hold Rosary rally to protest Fr. James Martin talk

No need to preach LGBT heresy to this crowd

Let’s backtrack a bit here and set the scene at Epiphany of Our Lord Church. I entered the ugly “circle church” about 25 minutes before Martin’s talk was scheduled to begin, as the vigil Mass he was concelebrating was underway. I was already shocked that I struggled to find a parking space in the decently sized church lot.

After entering the church, I sat in the vestibule and noted that nearly every pew was full. While still in shock over this, I noticed the Eucharist was being distributed and looked at my phone to see it was only 5:35 p.m., even though the Mass started at 5 p.m.

I waited another 10 minutes or so for Mass attendees to clear out, but was surprised to see most of them remain seated for the talk. So, into the church I went. As I took a good look at the crowd, it became obvious how Martin drew such a crowd.

I looked around to see nearly everyone chit-chatting in the pews, many of them probably just minutes after receiving Our Lord. Nearly everyone seated was over 50 and had gray or white hair; many wore sweatshirts or T-shirts, and jeans or sweatpants. Some wore COVID masks in 2026. I spotted just three young men (beside myself), who were likely in their twenties.

As the clock finally turned to six, Fr. Martin emerged. Martin, the same “Catholic in good standing” – according to the Vatican anyway – who has called the Catholic teaching that homosexuality is disordered “cruel,” suggested that the Church’s doctrine on homosexuality is not “authoritative,” cast doubt on the biblical condemnation of sodomy, and even expressed hope that homosexual “husbands” will one day feel comfortable kissing each other during the sign of peace at Mass, was standing just a few feet away from me (and in the aisle instead of the pulpit; I swear this was just a conspiracy so this LifeSiteNews reporter couldn’t get a good picture of him).

The same man who celebrated a confirmation Mass for homosexual ABC News correspondent Gio Benitez, who is also in a homosexual “marriage,” in St. Patrick’s Cathedral last year. And lest we forget the same man who just days earlier told leftist comedian Stephen Colbert that Pope Leo assured him he plans to continue his predecessor’s LGBT agenda.

So, picture the mostly boomer (sorry, faithful boomers, I know you exist) crowd laughing at every corny joke Martin made, sitting in an uninspiring circle church, then recall Martin’s many, many heretical statements and contradictions of the faith noted above, and ask yourself why the Jesuit would need to bother making another heretical statement that night.

You see, among that crowd, many would’ve been growing up at the close of the Second Vatican Council, the inception of the Novus Ordo Missae, and ultimately the watering down of the faith.

When you start stripping altars, facing the people instead of God, replacing ancient Gregorian chant with hymns like “All are Welcome” and “On Eagle’s Wings,” and de-emphasize the Church’s constant teaching, in other words, trying to conform Christ to yourself instead of the other way around, it’s really only a matter of time before a pro-LGBT priest like Martin emerges and becomes popular.

While you might be thinking it’s a good thing that he didn’t say anything heretical, and of course it is, the reality is he didn’t have to because his gray-haired audience appeared to have already bought into the heterodoxy. You can’t drive off a cliff you’ve already plummeted from.

Martin’s invitation and Fr. O’Donald’s ‘pinch of incense’

Worse than anything Martin discussed Saturday evening, or the reality that he didn’t need to promote heresy, was the fact that Epiphany’s pastor, Fr. O’Donald, whom I have heard described as “conservative,” “orthodox,” and “one of the good young priests” by a local, has shown that he’s willing to compromise with the “ape of the church,” to which the Jesuit belongs (let’s call a spade a spade).

Last month, while reporting on Martin’s invitation to speak, I reached out to O’Donald, asking him, point-blank, why he invited the Jesuit, given that he has contradicted Catholic teaching, and whether he accepts the Church’s teaching on same-sex “marriage.”

The priest quickly wrote back that he both accepts the Church’s teaching and actively promotes it at his parish. Not only that, but he confessed that he has reservations about Martin’s many statements related to LGBT issues.

So, why would a priest like O’Donald invite him, then? Well, according to the priest, Martin promised him he wouldn’t discuss the “alphabet” issues at all, stressing that “truth and charity must work together.” Of course, Martin is owed charity, but that doesn’t give him the right to continue scandalizing the faithful.

READ: Priest defends inviting pro-LGBT Fr. James Martin to speak at parish about memoir

As TFP Student Action’s John Ritchie put it to me, by this logic, should priests invite abortionists to speak about something neutral like planting flowers? I’ll go a step further and ask whether the pastor of Martin Luther’s childhood parish in Germany should have invited him to speak on a neutral topic like Our Lord’s Resurrection that doesn’t pertain to the Protestant revolt “out of charity”?

Martin’s talk was also approved by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, with the explicit permission of Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez and Father Philip G. Bochanski, the vicar general and moderator of the archdiocesan curia, who was previously the executive director of Courage International, an apostolate that helps Catholics struggling with homosexual inclinations (let that sink in).

I mean no personal disrespect to O’Donald, who I’ve heard many great things about in the last few weeks, or the other clerics mentioned above, but priests like this who are otherwise solid but are willing to bend the knee and offer just a “pinch of incense” to the heretical infiltrators within the Church are actually worse than clerics like Martin. They’re in a position to correct these errors and, instead, compromise.

Perhaps they are afraid of being punished as Bishop Joseph Strickland, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, or Saint Athanasius of Alexandria were.

Whatever the reason, for the crisis in the Church to come to an end, we need the clerics who accept Church teaching in its entirety resisting and charitably correcting the errors of the Pope, the majority of the bishops, and priests like Martin, not those willing to offer “just a little incense” to modernism like it’s no big deal.

I wonder what has been going through Fr. O’Donald’s head since this event concluded, knowing that just steps away from his church, a group of 35 faithful Catholics were praying rosaries, which he is likely devoted to, of reparation for Martin’s errors and his complacency in freely providing him a platform.

Pray for the Church

We’ll end on a slightly more positive note. There are a few steps the faithful can take in response to Martin being given such a platform, not just at Epiphany, but on late-night television, and sadly, even the Vatican.

First, to any Epiphany parishioner: your pastor is compromised; it’s time to find a new parish. If you’re willing to try something new, go to the Traditional Latin Mass at St. Mary’s in Conshohocken run by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), or St. Jude in Eddystone, run by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). Second, for all the faithful in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, don’t tithe another penny to the archdiocese, because your bishop is compromised too.

Finally, for all faithful readers, remember to pray for all the priests mentioned here and for the entire Church. Don’t be discouraged, remember that as dire as the crisis in the Church is today, God’s mercy is very real, if only we ask for it, whether in our daily rosaries, or perhaps by making some simple acts of reparation for the heterodox and complicit clerics, but most importantly, when attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And remember that, in the end, Her Immaculate Heart will triumph!

READ: Silence in the face of error: Pope Leo meets with Fr. James Martin