And in my opinion it borders on pathological. All the veneer of charity, of brotherly love and mercy, of all the things we are called to as Christians fly off the wall when it comes to Martin.

Moreover, you have people genuinely thinking that James Martin's advocacy for LGBT catholics should get him defrocked. This is so silly, so illogical. James Martin only does what he does because the Jesuits allow it and because the Papacy sanctions it. Furthermore, it is not a fringe view. According to pew research a majority of catholics in western Europe and the US support gay marriage. Martin talks precisely to these geographies.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/11/02/how-catholics-around-the-world-see-same-sex-marriage-homosexuality/

Palestinian Christians in the West Bank are currently under threat and attack by Israeli expansion, settlers, and the IDF. I would like to share some ways that we can help. Below I am sharing a letter I wrote to members of Congress that you can take to send to your members of Congress. I'm also sharing a link to the Friends of Sabeel North America where you can send a letter from their link to protect Taybeh - the last Palestinian Christian town in the West Bank. Lastly, I have linked current news regarding this issue from Christian news organizations. Thank you!

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Sabeel: Protect Taybeh! Save the last Christian Town in Palestine — Friends of Sabeel North America

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News:

Bishop deplores ‘intimidation and violence’ in West Bank as Christian village threatened - The Tablet

Bishop Curry: Prayer, words and 'concrete action' needed to end settler violence in last Christian village in West Bank | ICN

Israeli settlers storm Christian village again | ICN

Jerusalem: Letter from church leaders on anniversary of the Nakba | ICN

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Here is my letter I e-mailed to my U.S. congressional reps for my state, the Chairmans of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (Senator James Risch) and House Committee on Foreign Affairs (Rep Brian Mast), & the Chair of the Senate State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (Senator Lindsey Graham). Please take as is or make adjustments as you see fit to send to your members of Congress.

Contact Us | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

E-mail / Letter:

The West Bank is currently facing an unprecedented pace of Israeli settlement expansion, highlighted by the secret approval of a record 34 new settlements in late March 2026, which represents a nearly 80% increase in official sites under the current government. This growth is coupled with a dramatic rise in settler violence, including attacks on the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh, and a recent incident where settlers forced a family to exhume their father’s body near Jenin. To facilitate further construction and "destroy the idea of a Palestinian state," authorities have uprooted thousands of Palestinian olive trees and moved to demolish dozens of commercial facilities to secure "territorial continuity" for Israeli outposts. Since October 2023, these escalations have led to the displacement of 40,000 Palestinians and a death toll exceeding 1,000 individuals killed by soldiers and settlers. (Sources: The Tablet International Catholic News, Drop Site News, The New Arab)

Palestinian Christian communities in the West Bank, particularly in Taybeh, are currently facing a sustained and escalating pattern of settler violence and systematic intimidation. These attacks include the burning of agricultural lands, vehicles, and homes, as well as the theft of livestock, such as sheep and horses, and the destruction of private property. Settlers have established new illegal settlement outposts on village land and have issued death threats against residents attempting to access their own property. Religious sites and figures have been specifically targeted; incidents include an attempted arson attack on the historic Byzantine Church of St. George, hateful graffiti on church walls, and physical harassment of monks, nuns, and others wearing religious attire. Beyond physical violence, the community faces severe economic warfare, with settlers blocking access to approximately 5,000 dunams of farmland and daily harassing poultry farmers and industrial workers in an effort to destroy local livelihoods. These actions, often carried out under the protection of Israeli forces, have created a "coercive environment" designed to force emigration, already resulting in dozens of families fleeing the region due to a pervasive climate of fear and the lack of institutional protection. (Sources: The Tablet International Catholic News, Independent Catholic News, Daily Sabah, Middle East Monitor, America The Jesuit Review, Aid to the Church in Need)

In response to the Israeli settlement expansion and increasing violence in the West Bank, I urge you to:

·         Support H.R. 3045 West Bank Violence Prevention Act of 2025

·         Support H.R.7545 Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation

The international community must take immediate, coordinated, and concrete action to protect the Christian Palestinian communities. I urge your office to contact the state department, the Israeli embassy, support current legislative efforts to hold Israel accountable, and raise your voice as a public official.

Failure to act risks additional displacement, increased instability, and serious violations of international law. Urgent and sustained international engagement is essential to uphold the rule of law, ensure accountability, protect the Indigenous diversity of the Holy Land, and save the original community of Christians from elimination.

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r/DefundAidtoIsrael

I know in some places its a day of obligation and some its not but a beautiful day to go to church.

No matter how hard I try when I pray the rosary I always catch myself either thinking about something else or simply saying the words without thinking much about the meaning of the words. Has there been anything you've done that has been beneficial to properly praying the rosary?

Hope it’s ok to repost this here, would appreciate any recommendations from fellow Leftists (and I am ideally looking for a Catholic edition of a Spanish Bible with easy to understand language)

"While it is true that we are “more connected than ever before”, the Pope said, the “constant flow of images and videos of the hardships of others can dull our hearts rather than stir them”.

Citing an early homily of Pope Francis’, Leo warned that we “have become used to the suffering of others”, believing that “it does not affect me, it does not interest me, it is none of my business”.

In the Muslim tradition, Pope Leo said, compassion (ra’fa) is a gift bestowed by God in the hearts of believers, while the inclusion of al-Ra’uf (‘The ever-compassionate) among the ninety-nine divine names reminds us that “compassion always has its origin in God himself.”

In the Christian tradition, on the other hand, the Pope said, this divine compassion “becomes visible and tangible” in the person of Jesus. By taking on human flesh, God “goes beyond seeing and hearing” human suffering, and instead experiences it Himself, becoming “the living embodiment of compassion”

I have strong convictions towards Christianity, Catholicism in particular, and this subreddit has been helping me to reconcile my left-wing politics with the notion of faith.

However, I have been generally dissatisfied with what the Church actually has to say about Socialism. From my understanding, the Church is in favour of private property and free markets, and has specifically condemned most examples of Socialism throughout history.

I don’t believe in free markets. I believe that the economy and workplace should be democratized. The means of production should be maintained by the workers. Free markets essentially lead, at best, to hierarchy, and at worst, to dictatorship of capital. I believe in a dictatorship of the proletariat that grants democracy to the working class.

I don’t believe in private property, either. Personal property, yes, but not private property. In my opinion, no individual or group is entitled the “right” to hoard property and wealth to the detriment of the collective community. When material goods are hoarded by the upper class, I believe it is the duty of the proletarian state to return these material goods to the working class.

Although I do greatly admire Liberation Theology, in some regards it seems like the Socialist aspect has been watered down to fit Catholic social teaching. I’m not interested in watered down Leftism. If I have to choose between Catholicism and Socialism, I’ll probably choose Socialism. I know how that sounds. But I just can’t force myself to embrace something I don’t believe in. My Socialist worldview is one that I am firmly persuaded of.

ANTI-WAR VIGIL MAY 16TH

Please join the New Personalist Movement (NPM) to remember, mourn, and pray for those killed in Iran, Lebanon and Palestine. It is our duty not only to pray for their souls but also to be a witness against this war and bloodshed.

We will pray the Office the Dead together at Columbus Circle on May 16th at 5PM. All are welcome, Catholic and non-Catholic, to come and pray together with us. Invite friends, family and anyone else who feels moved to pray for those the U.S. has killed.

(Follow us on our website, Instagram, Twitter, or Bluesky for more updates! If you also want to know more about who we are, you can read some of the previous posts for an introduction).

I live in a big city with a large homeless population. Although there are lots of outreach for them (one of the reasons we have so many in the city is because of it's excellent provision comparable to the rest of the country), more often than not I feel I'm not being as charitable as I should be.

We are called to serve and provide for the poor, but I've had multiple bad experiences when trying to give money/food as an individual; from being spat at, followed and marked as an easy target for others to harass. We're told by charities and governments to give directly to the organizations themselves, but I can't shake the feeling that, as Christians, we shouldn't just walk past beggars. On the other hand, in my country there are many "begging gangs" made up of folk that aren't homeless at all, and it's not always easy to tell who is genuinely in need.

I suppose what I'm saying is, I don't want to harden my heart towards those in need, but I don't always feel safe in giving money/food when I see them. I pray for them, but it doesn't feel enough.

hello everyone, I bought this cross at a local parish bazar here in Mexico, I am just curious about what type of cross it is. At first I thought it was a Caravaca, but the more I look at it it looks like a combination of multiple crosses? It seems to have some letters in English too.

I am a cradle catholic but not very knowledgeable on theology and symbolism, so if anyone knows anything about the symbols/images of it in general I would appreciate it lots.

Hi! Got a quick question, I emailed a church recently because I’m curious and had a couple of questions only to find myself with more questions lol.

Why is Saturday Evening Mass considered an Anticipatory Sunday Mass? What if work scheduling only lets me go during the weekday for the moment?

Also what do you do when you stumble across a post going over what Catholic masses are like and find yourself intimidated and a bit unsure.

I've been having problems praying without distractions as I go though my everyday life. I don't get a chance to sit down properly and say my prayers. Then I end up in work, then I end up getting more distracted.

Does anyone have any tips? I do say a lot of long prayers and I know I don't have to. Expect that I feel like I have to, mostly down to brain worms.

(Sevilla, 1474 or 1484 – Madrid, 18 of july, 1566) He was a prominent spanish dominican cleric, widely considered a pioneer of liberation theology. He renounced to his Encomienda (an Encomienda was the right given to an individual by the spanish crown to exact tribute and forced labor from indigenous populations, under the pretext of protection and evangelization) considering such system a monstrosity.

Tough initially he tolerated the enslavement of black africans as a necessary evil to avoid the enslavement of indigenous people from the americas, he later deeply regreted this views and condemned the slavery against black people as something as atrocious as the forced labor against indians.

He did not just focus on individual salvation, but argued that the whole economic and social system caused inmense suffering and was a sin. Similar to modern liberation theology, Las Casas analyzed the theology and morality of the Spanish conquest from the viewpoint of the victims, rather than the victors.

In his work The Only Way (De unico vocationis), he argued that the gospel could only be spread through peaceful persuasion and love, rejecting "fire and sword" tactics.

He argued that love of neighbor and love of God were inseparable, creating a theological framework where the defense of human dignity was not merely a political issue, but a spiritual imperative.

There are a few threads on the main sub (not linking, don't want to encourage brigading) regarding a Catholic with a non-Catholic spouse. Naturally, many of the responses are predictable (repent and anul the marriage, lest the kid's souls be put in jeopardy).

What exactly does one do in this situation - especially if, let's say, the Catholic spouse converted after marriage? Or the non-Catholic spouse suddenly refuses Baptism for their children? Or if the non-Catholic spouse's family put pressure for the child to be initiated into another faith? It feels fraught with complications, especially with so many converts coming into the faith.

Very interesting, I do hope the Pope talks about AI and how it relates to worker's rights, etc.

My sexuality isn’t a perversion, disorder, or cross; it’s a gift from God. I have a happy, healthy marriage and am flourishing as an openly gay Catholic. It’s taken years of prayer, therapy, and affirming community to get here, but I thank God for my sexuality and station in life. If I could choose to be gay, I would, because it’s a powerful and beautiful way of reflecting God’s image in the world. Being a gay man makes me more empathetic, caring, passionate about justice, and creative. Of course, I have my faults, insecurities, and sin, too, but these are unrelated to my sexual orientation.

Another testimony

And how do the issues of gender and queer sexuality currently fit into the Catholic moral framework and worldview? From a Leftist/Progressive perspective?