James Martin

James J. Martin (born 29 December 1960) is an American Jesuit Catholic priest, writer, and editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine America. A New York Times Best Selling author, Martin's books include The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life, Jesus: A Pilgrimage, and My Life With the Saints. He is a public speaker on the Ignatian spirituality as inspired by Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Pope Francis appointed Martin as a consultant to the Secretariat for Communications at the Vatican in 2017. Martin's public outreach to the LGBT community has drawn both support and condemnation from within the Catholic Church. This is the subject of his book Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity. In 2021, a documentary film about Martin's LGBT ministry, also called Building a Bridge, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.