Church Militant (website)

St. Michael's Media is a 501(c)(3) organization which operates in the State of Michigan under the officially-registered assumed name of Church Militant[2] via the website ChurchMilitant.com. Church Militant is a Catholic lay apostolate and traditional Catholic news website founded by Michael Voris. It was known as Real Catholic TV until 2012, when the Archdiocese of Detroit notified Michael Voris and Real Catholic TV that "it does not regard them as being authorized to use the word 'Catholic' to identify or promote their public activities".[3] Mr. Voris responded by changing the name to Church Militant.[4][5] While Church Militant makes use of a paywall and offers premium content to subscribers, the website's most well known feature is its free segment The Vortex, simulcast on YouTube and hosted by Voris. As of December 2018, 34 employees create videos and write content for Church Militant.[1]

Church Militant
Type of site
News and opinion
Traditional Catholic
OwnerSt. Michael's Media, Inc.
Founder(s)Michael Voris
RevenueUSD$2.8 million (December 2018)[1]
URLchurchmilitant.com
Alexa rank 15,878 (USA, February 2019) churchmilitant.com Traffic Statistics
RegistrationOptional
Current statusActive

Name

The site is named after the Catholic doctrinal division of the universal Church into the Church Militant, Church Penitent, and Church Triumphant.[6]

Influence

Owing to its wide viewership among traditional Catholics, Church Militant exposées have been reported to cause deplatforming of liberal Catholics,[7] such as in the case of Dan Schutte, who was disinvited from a concert after a Vortex segment accused him of being a homosexual.[8] Also "relentlessly" targeted has been Fr. James Martin,[9] whose book Building a Bridge proved controversial among traditional Catholics, which some, including Martin himself,[10] have speculated has led to him being disinvited from speaking engagements.[1]

Church Militant, along with other Catholic publications, were accused by Micheal Sean Winters and other Catholic journalists as playing a role in the "forced" resignation from Catholic News Service of Tony Spence, its editor-in-chief, owing to his opposition towards proposed bathroom bill legislation.[11][12]

Church Militant has been highly critical of the Society of Saint Pius X in articles on its website, in particular of the Society's handling of sexual abuse cases. In April 2020, it published a number of accusations, including some older ones, on its website.[13] (Further allegations were published in August.[14]) In response, the Society criticized Church Millitant, writing that "it is well-known that Church Militant is not a serious journalistic enterprise but a repository of sensationalized stories, hit pieces, and videos featuring the opinions of its controversial founder, Michael Voris. Further, Church Militant has repeatedly used the SSPX’s name to generate web-clicks and revenue while hoping to stoke the fires of public controversy by baiting it into a war of words. Prudence dictates caution when dealing with a tabloid, and we will not be so baited".[15]

Coverage by other news sources

Samuel Freedman of The New York Times said, "To fully grasp what 'church militant' means in this highly politicized atmosphere, it helps to examine the broader movement and the role of a traditionalist Catholic website called — to no surprise — ChurchMilitant.com".[16] Freedman quoted an interview with Michael Voris on which his article was based accusing Church Militant's alleged "right-wing stances" as "mesh[ing] with many of the positions espoused by Mr. Trump and his inner circle".[16] Freedman summarized Voris' views by claiming that "the website's positions were a righteous defense of patriotism and morality on behalf of people who believe those virtues have been attacked by liberals, secularists and global elites".[16]

Freedman relayed that Voris' online audience was cumulatively "about 1.5 million views a month"[16] and characterized the apostolate's position as one that dismisses manmade climate change, thinks the Black Lives Matter movement is akin to "the new fascism", and called Hillary Clinton "Killary," who was acting as "Satan's mop for wiping up the last remaining resistance to him in America."[16] It also quoted Voris's critique of social-welfare programs as a system where "half the people of America" do not pay taxes and "get things handed to them".[16] Church Militant responded to The Times article in a panel discussion in which the panel called Freedman's article a "hit piece" and "dishonest".[17]

On February 19, 2017, Robert Allen, in a piece for the Detroit Free Press[18] which was republished by USA Today,[19] wrote that Voris' studio in Ferndale was "the nerve center for a growing, religious group hoping the forces that elected President Donald Trump will tear down the wall between church and state". He called Voris' apostolate "a fringe group claiming to be Catholic but denounced by the church, [that] broadcasts pro-life, anti-gay, anti-feminist, Islam-fearing content on its website" and that "many of Church Militant's headlines are similar to those on Breitbart News, the far-right news organization that White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon previously ran."[19] Voris, according to the article, proclaimed that the election of Trump showed that the notion of mainstream media has been altered, "The Entire established order has been thrown up into the air. What we say now has some credence. We're allowed into the discussion."[19] Church Militant responded to the Detroit Free Press/USA Today article in a panel discussion in which it also addressed the Detroit archdiocese.[20]

On May 9, 2017 The Atlantic released a video on the operations at Church Militant, featuring interviews with Michael Voris and behind the scenes footage at their offices.[21]

References
  1. Feuerherd, Peter (2018-12-11). "No 'church of nice' for Church Militant". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  2. Allen, Robert (2017-02-21). "How a right-wing Ferndale fringe group is building a multimedia empire". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  3. "Archdiocese of Detroit, Newsroom, Statements". 2011.
  4. Freedman, Samuel G. (2016-12-30). "'Church Militant' Theology Is Put to New, and Politicized, Use". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  5. Voris, Michael. "On Claims of 'Disobedience'". Church Militant. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  6. "Mission". Church Militant. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  7. Siemaszko, Corky (2018-11-18). "How the Catholic 'alt-right' aims to purge LGBTQ members from the church". NBC News. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  8. Sanchez, Mary (March 19, 2018). ""Militant" anti-gay activist seeks to divide Catholic flock". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  9. Gehring, John (2017-09-20). "The real scandal: What attacks on James Martin say about the Church in America". La Croix International. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  10. Fr. Martin, James (2018-01-27). "Dear friends: I'm sorry to say that another lecture has been cancelled". Facebook. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  11. Coday, Dennis (March 14, 2016). "Catholic News Service editor asked to resign". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  12. Winters, Michael Sean (March 19, 2016). "What to make of the forced resignation of Tony Spence". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  13. Hadro, Matt (May 20, 2020). Catholic News Agency titleKansas investigating sexual abuse claims in breakaway Society of St. Pius X https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/kansas-investigating-sexual-abuse-claims-in-breakaway-society-of-st-pius-x-83918 titleKansas investigating sexual abuse claims in breakaway Society of St. Pius X Check |url= value (help). Retrieved August 11, 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. "Representatives of Catholic church in St. Marys take issue with published report surrounding its role in KBI investigation". WIBW-TV. August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  15. "U.S. District Responds to Church Militant". Society of Saint Pius X. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  16. Samuel G. Freedman (December 30, 2016). "'Church Militant' Theology Is Put to New, and Politicized, Use". New York Times.
  17. ""All the News That's Fit to Distort"". churchmilitant.com. January 5, 2017.
  18. Robert Allen (February 21, 2017). "How a right-wing Ferndale fringe group is building a multimedia empire". Detroit Free Press.
  19. Robert Allen (February 19, 2017). "Right-wing fringe group building multimedia empire near Detroit". USA Today.
  20. ""The Catholic Fringe"". churchmilitant.com. February 20, 2017.
  21. Lombroso, Daniel. "Church Militant: A right-wing Media Empire in-the-Making - Michael Voris, The Atlantic - The Atlantic". www.theatlantic.com. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
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