There’s never a shortage of controversy when James Martin is involved – now he’s featuring theologians who are trained in the art of de-abominising sodomy. It’s all on his new, heretical website, Outreach, of course: the place to be when you kind of want to go to heaven but have no intention of giving up your lifestyle of vice.

A less thorough treatment of God’s opinion on sodomy could not be found than the one given in this article. The story is only 600 words, and 200 of those are quoting St Paul’s Letter to the Romans! The only accurate sentence is the opening one: “Romans 1:26-27 is frequently cited as Paul’s blanket condemnation of homosexuality.” That’s something on which we can all agree.

But according to the “groundbreaking” theology of the author, Fr Thomas Stedman S.J., St. Paul abhorred sodomy only because that vice was frowned upon by the Jews of his time – and not because it is intrinsically disordered.

“Paul comes from a religious tradition that forbids same-sex relations (cf. Lev 18:22; 20:13). Like many Jews of his day, he regarded such relations as a quintessential vice among Gentiles.”

But to say that Paul’s prohibition means God also abhors sodomy is “unnuanced” in Fr. Thomas’ view. That’s because, compared with the number of times St. Paul talks about other sins, sodomy barely gets a mention.

Maybe someone needs to point out to Fr. Thomas that most people aren’t tempted to actively engage in homosexual acts, whereas everyone struggles with the common sins that Paul mentions more frequently? His theological number-crunching leads the deluded Fr. Thomas to the conclusion that “same-sex relations are not the main issue—failure to recognize and honor God is.“

Being a good progressive, Fr. Thomas undoubtedly believes in man-made climate change and experimental COVID treatments. But since St. Paul didn’t preach about those, would he say traditionalists have a better understanding of what God really thinks of those issues? I doubt it.

If Scriptural numerology was all Catholics had to rely on, then we wouldn’t believe in the Trinity (That word is mentioned precisely ZERO times in the Bible.) Nor would we believe in Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception and Assumption. Nor would be have faith in countless other elements of Catholic teaching which Scripture either veils in meaning or which are explicit but commonly misinterpreted by non-Catholics.

But even if all we Catholics had was Scripture, and there was no comforting support of Tradition, which in His Providence, God supplied for our salvation, then the meaning of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans would still remain crystal clear: sodomy is a vice, and the blindness of the understanding experienced by Fathers Thomas and James is the consequence of wilful attachment to that abomination.

²⁴ Wherefore God gave them up to the desires of their heart, unto uncleanness, to dishonour their own bodies among themselves.

²⁵ Who changed the truth of God into a lie; and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

²⁶ For this cause God delivered them up to shameful affections. For their women have changed the natural use into that use which is against nature.

²⁷ And, in like manner, the men also, leaving the natural use of the women, have burned in their lusts one towards another, men with men working that which is filthy, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was due to their error.

²⁸ And as they liked not to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them up to a reprobate sense, to do those things which are not convenient;

²⁹ Being filled with all iniquity, malice, fornication, avarice, wickedness, full of envy, murder, contention, deceit, malignity, whisperers,

³⁰ Detractors, hateful to God, contumelious, proud, haughty, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

³¹ Foolish, dissolute, without affection, without fidelity, without mercy.

³² Who, having known the justice of God, did not understand that they who do such things, are worthy of death; and not only they that do them, but they also that consent to them that do them.

(Rom 1:24-32)