In 1967, Martin received his first Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1969, he got his first breakthrough with his book "The Encounter: Religion in Crisis" as a result of his expertise in Judaism, Christianity and Islam and with which he won the Book Award of the American Library Association. Afterwards came other liberally oriented books like "Three Popes and the Cardinal: The Church of Pius, John and Paul in its Encounter with Human History" (1972) and "Jesus Now" (1973). Malachi Martin became a United States citizen in 1970.