Catholic news site Church Militant agrees to pay $500k in defamation case and is expected to close

AP News ^ | March 4, 2024 | PETER SMITH

[Morgana]

A far-right, unofficial Catholic media website has agreed to pay $500,000 to a New Hampshire priest who sued for defamation over a 2019 article that it now disavows. The website also is planning to shut down soon, the priest’s attorney says.

The apology by Church Militant came after the organization agreed last week to a federal court judgment in favor of the Rev. Georges de Laire, an official with the Diocese of Manchester. This legal setback comes just months after its founder’s resignation over a breach of its morality clause.

“As part of the parties’ resolution, Church Militant has represented that it will be shutting down at the end of April,” attorney Howard Cooper of the Boston law firm Todd & Weld, which represented de Laire, said via email.

St. Michael’s Media, the parent firm for the Michigan-based news site, did not immediately confirm the shutdown plan to The Associated Press, and a phone message to its attorneys was not immediately returned. But the Church Militant website said it was closing its online store and having a “Lenten Liquidation Sale” of crucifixes, statues, books and other items.

Church Militant and its sleek newscasts drew a loyal following for years with a mix of fiercely right-wing politics and radically conservative Catholicism in which many of America’s bishops were viewed with suspicion and disgust. It “is not recognized as a Church apostolate” and lacks authorization to promote itself as Catholic, according to the Archdiocese of Detroit, in whose territory it is based.

[Morgana]

So sorry I'm over a month in posting this but here is an update

someone brought this to my attention. Here is "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey always said.

[Morgana]

got your email....

look what I found

so long farewell auf wiedersehen goodbye

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Details here: Delaire vs. Voris

[Morgana]

Thanks.

I’ve posted about it in the past.

From this update, Voris just got his ass handed to him, as he should have.

[daniel1212]

It “is not recognized as a Church apostolate” and lacks authorization to promote itself as Catholic, according to the Archdiocese of Detroit, in whose territory it is based.

And just which laity websites are recognized as a Church "apostolates?”

[Campion]

I wouldn't read too much into that. They're basically saying "these guys didn't operate with our approval, and we want to distance ourselves from them in every respect".

There are lots of lay-run apostolates which operate with the express approval of their local ordinary. Do you have a Catholic hospital in your town? Maybe an independent Catholic school (they usually use the word "academy" in their name)? EWTN is run by laity. Catholic Answers is run by laity. There are many other examples.