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Church Militant to shut down following $500,000 defamation lawsuit brought by priest

Daniel Payne By Daniel Payne for CNA

St. Michael's Media founder and CEO Michael Voris during an interview for local television news before the "Bishops Enough Is Enough" rally at the MECU Pavilion November 16, 2021 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 2, 2024 / 14:22 pm (CNA).

Church Militant, the controversial Catholic media outlet that has for years maintained a reputation for combative and antagonistic coverage of Catholic figures and issues, will shut down following a $500,000 defamation judgment against it.

Boston-based law firm Todd & Weld said in a press release this week that Church Militant had “agreed to the entry of a judgment against it in the amount of $500,000” in a defamation lawsuit brought by Father Georges de Laire, the judicial vicar of the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire.

The media outlet had run an article in 2019 titled “NH Vicar Changes Dogma Into Heresy,” one in which the author, canonist Marc Balestrieri, claimed to “have talked to a number of anonymous sources who allegedly made negative comments about Father de Laire both personally and professionally,” the law firm said.

De Laire brought suit against both Balestriei and Church Militant over the article. In the course of the lawsuit, both the writer and the outlet were “unable to identify a single source who said anything negative about Father de Laire,” Todd & Weld said.

The law firm said the article had been written in “an attempt to discredit Father de Laire” and the Diocese of Manchester.

Todd & Weld said in the press release that St. Michael’s Media, the parent company of Church Militant, “will cease all operations of Church Militant by the end of April 2024.”

Church Militant did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday regarding its reasons for shutting down. Asked for insight into the company’s decision, Howard Cooper — a founding partner of Todd & Weld — declined to speculate.

“Questions about Church Militant’s thinking will need to be answered by them,” he told CNA.

Late last year, Church Militant founder Michael Voris resigned over a “morality” violation, with Voris at the time alluding to “horrible ugly things” he had done, though he did not go into specifics at the time.

“I need to conquer these demons,” he said of his decision to resign. “The underlying cause of it has been too ugly for me to look at.”

The Washington Post reported last week that staffers had “complained that Voris had sent shirtless photos of himself to Church Militant staff and associates” prior to his resignation.

Voris founded St. Michael’s Media in 2006. The company launched Church Militant — originally titled Real Catholic TV — in 2008.


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22 Comments

  1. Always be wary of intense public piety. It usually precedes a great fall. See Gibson, Mel.

    On the other hand, these sorts of countercurrents are the result of a weak hierarchy and in the absence of strong shepherds, some sheep decide to lead the flock.

  2. The wealthy (even before the lawsuit) Father de Laire should be ashamed of himself.
    This is not how a holy priest conducts himself.
    What did the saints of the past do if they were unjustly persecuted?
    They didn’t do anything. They knew God would sort things out eventually.
    So has Father de Laire been unjustly persecuted? Or has CM?
    God will sort things out eventually.

  3. It’s about time. The horribly dishonest reporting of Church Militant on Catholic persons and issues all across the spectrum of praxis and belief was truly disgusting. Whatever “good” they may have done in exposing corruption in the Church was more than offset by their willingness to engage in character assassination of very good people. Their only criterion seemed to be whether they could gin up enough outrage to make money, regardless of the truth or falsehood of what they reported.

  4. A very great irony here is that if Voris and Church Militant were part of the progressive/woke wing, then Voris’ personal sexual immorality and Church Militant’s MSNBC-esque character assassinations of more traditional Catholics would have been fully supported and the organization would remain in good standing.

    Nevertheless, Church Militant started out with a solid mission on behalf of traditional Catholicism, and much of its reporting of harmful corruption in the Church was on target, but it first showed signs of losing its way with an absurd ultramontanist defense of Pope Francis during the early years of his papacy. It eventually wised up regarding the reality of the Pope’s following through on his stated modus operandi to make a mess, did some more good work overall (albeit the quality of mercy and seeking redemption of those who were objectively harming the Church was noticeably absent, at least for the most part), but then more significantly lost its way than ever before by engaging in more and more false and/or unsupported attacks on a variety of clergy, lay Catholics, and some institutions it simply decided was in the wrong just because ‘Church Militant and Voris said so.’

    • Michael, what you say I believe to be accurate. I would only add that any of us were we to become complacent and fall into the sin of presumption would likely find ourselves in the same place as Stm Michael’s Media.

  5. A very great irony here is that if Voris and Church Militant were part of the progressive/woke wing, then Voris’ personal sexual immorality and MSNBC-esque character assassinations of more traditional Catholics would have been fully supported and the organization would remain in good standing.

    Nevertheless, Church Militant started out with a solid mission on behalf of traditional Catholicism, and much of its reporting of harmful corruption in the Church was on target, but it first showed signs of losing its way with an absurd ultramontanist defense of Pope Francis during the early years of his papacy. It eventually wised up regarding the reality of the Pope’s following through on his stated modus operandi to make a mess, did some more good work overall (albeit the quality of mercy and seeking redemption of those who were objectively harming the Church was noticeably absent, at least for the most part), but then more significantly lost its way than ever before by engaging in more and more false and/or unsupported attacks on a variety of clergy, lay Catholics, and some institutions it simply decided were in the wrong just because ‘Church Militant and Voris say so.’

  6. I wholeheartedly agreed with Church Militant’s views on abortion, gun rights, and our oppressive, leftist government. But their animosity towards Pope Francis, and our bishops is what turned Church Militant and many other rad trad commentators off for me. I’ve said this before here on CWR, most of you reading this probably know what I’m going to say.
    Pope Francis IS our validly elected Pope. To say otherwise is placing you outside full communion with the Catholic Church, akin to the Orthodox Church. Part of being a Traditional Catholic is to be supportive of the Holy Father and our bishops; they are all successors of the Twelve. It doesn’t mean you have to like him, just acknowledge him as our Pope and pray for him. Where’s “Dr” Taylor Marshall, John Henry Westen, or that creepy Michael Voris to talk about the Pope’s recent comments on how gender ideology is the ugliest danger of our time? They’re nowhere to be found, and that says a lot about them too.
    Good riddance, Church Militant. Don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out.

  7. It’s sad that this happened but given the trajectory Church Militant had taken in the last couple of years, it’s not at all surprising. Sensationalism and conspiracy theories do not make good journalism.

  8. I was banned from commenting on the CM website. This may be God’s justice for that, and other injustices of CM. They were a part of the problem for tacitly supporting the legitimacy of Francis.

    There is little doubt that if CM had been sedevacantist (FYI given the facts a position currently NOT logical) or had believed and promoted the belief that Francis was not the pope, it wouldn’t have gotten the following that it had.

    It certainly can’t be taken for granted that every person who claims to be the pope ought to be believed because there have undoubtedly been antipopes throughout Church history. It is an allegation in search of evidence.

    It is most reliable to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ: You shall know them by their fruits. As of 1955 about 75% of people who identified as Catholics attended Mass weekly. In 2017 that was at about 39%. My understanding is that it is even lower now.

    Any person who identifies as Catholic ought to know that it is a moral duty as from the commandments of the Church to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. And they ought to know that they must also attend Mass which is presided over by a validly ordained Catholic priest who is in good standing with the Catholic hierarchy including the pope. Obviously, this would exclude attending an illegal Mass offered by schismatics who follow an antipope.

  9. Didn’tThinkso;

    Pope Francis IS our validly elected Pope, but that does not obligate us to go along blindly – and unquestioningly – with everything he says and does.
    The thing about him that most angers me – and I’m sure that it does with many others – is his ongoing efforts to abolish the Traditional Latin Mass. When I can I go to the Latin Mass in Lewiston 55 miles away but at my age it gets more difficult every time. While there I have spoken to people who make the 200 mile round trip EVERY SUNDAY, en route passing by a Novus Ordo Church about 5 miles from their home.

    On a more local level – to the best of my knowledge he hasn’t said anything about the blasphemous, disgraceful desecration of the Mass at St. Patrick’s in NY a few weeks back.

    But you are right – we must acknowledge him as our Pope and pray for him.

    • Absolutely Terence, we must pray for him. What I’m trying to say is that as Catholics, we HAVE to acknowledge Francis as our Pope, and should not always trust websites such as Church Militant who often toe the line in regards to Francis’ legitimacy. Yes they are conservative and pro-life, but we should take what they write with a grain of salt. The same goes with liberal Catholic media, especially America Magazine, and National “Catholic” Reporter. I can’t stand them. I’ll have to look up what happened at St Patrick’s in New York, it sounds pretty bad. I understand your frustration with the Pope and the Latin Mass, but if we had more people like you attending the Novus Ordo, I believe that sacred music would flourish, and liturgical abuses would be curbed. Also, many of the boomer priests are now retiring, so hopefully within the next 10-15 years, the whole Novus Ordo Vs Latin Mass war will be a thing of the past.
      I am very conservative-minded, pro-life, and traditional too, especially when it comes to the Eastern Rites. I want liturgical rites to be done properly, without the cringe.
      May God bless you!

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