CHURCH MILITANT'S VORIS REPENTS PAST 'UGLINESS'

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"Don't get drawn into it. My instinct is to avoid the MV scandal." A reader of this blog worries that the resignation of ex-Church Militant's Michael Voris, scourge of public sinners, will generate "a lot of lies and slanders."

He might as well tell a firefighter to roll up the hoses. Even a humble blog has a duty - you might say in accord with its state of life - to report the facts insofar as they're known, and in a matter potentially so harmful to the Mystical Body of Christ, a traditional Catholic blog must tell the truth as God sees it. 

Of poignant interest is the coincidence of this Church Militant cataclysm with the anniversary - November 21 - of the Declaration of Faith (provoked by an Apostolic Visitation to the SSPX in Fribourg, Switzerland) by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1974. 

The Voris disaster is only one example of the incalculable collateral damage done to the Church and the world by the Pope's cancellation of the Latin Mass, and the response expected by Almighty God is prayer and penance. No matter what his faults, with his journalistic talent for defending the Deposit of Faith Michael Voris, as he publicly repents, is a man to be pitied and prayed for. 

Timothy Flanders of OnePeterFive bears this out: 

Church Militant has released a statement that the board has asked Michael Voris to resign “for breaching the Church Militant morality clause.”

 On X (Twitter):

@kennedyhall

So, little historical tidbit. The implosion of Church Militant occurred on November 21... the anniversary of the Declaration of Faith by Archbishop Lefebvre.

Mr. Voris has released his own statement on Twitter in which he admits to avoiding his own past “ugliness,” and now he is repenting and stepping away from media to “face these demons.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1727102250311733320

He emphasises that he has always believed in the one true Church, through it all, and wants everyone to keep the faith, despite the failings of individual members, including himself.

Mr. Voris chokes up in the video, admitting that “it took me 62 years to get here” to repentance. Thinking about his final judgment, he says he knows he will answer for his sins one day.

“I know I don’t have the right to ask for anything,” he says, but he asks for prayers and continued support for Church Militant, with which he is no longer working.

“If you’ve got some ugliness from your past, don’t let it control you,” he concludes, choking back tears.

What is a traditional Catholic response to this public repentance?

Everyone knows that Mr. Voris has attacked traditional Catholics, including the Society of St. Pius X. His video shows no remorse for those actions. Yet we know that we would be unworthy of name “Christian” if we did not forgive our brother from our hearts as we pray in the Our Father (Mt. vi. 15). If we fail to show mercy also to Michael Voris who repents, our heavenly Father will not be merciful to us at our judgment.

Therefore it is not to excuse any of Mr. Voris’s public actions that we show him mercy at this time of his weakness, but it is the intrinsic mark of the Christian to be merciful to sinners. If we were in his position, would we not yearn from the same mercy?

You may think that justice itself calls for us to now recount his past deeds and “cancel” him utterly, but charity calls for something more.

Mr. Voris is taking a step back from public media and an internet presence in order to face his demons. We could all use a break from the internet, which seems to manifest demons more often than not.

Let us pray the prayer to St. Michael, the patron of Mr. Voris’s apostolate and his own namesake, that the Archangel may root out these demons tormenting the heart of our own brother in Christ.

T. S. Flanders

Timothy Flanders is the editor-in-chief of OnePeterFive. He is the author of City of God versus City of Man: The Battles of the Church from Antiquity to the Present and Introduction to the Holy Bible for Traditional Catholics. His writings have appeared at OnePeterFive

Holy Michael, Archangel, defend us in the day of battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God restrain him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, cast down into hell Satan, and all the wicked spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.