Church Militant has released a statement that the board has asked Michael Voris to resign “for breaching the Church Militant morality clause.”
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.”
God Love You pic.twitter.com/SBRFDP9vKD
— Michael Voris (@Michael_Voris) November 21, 2023
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.