San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Legal woes shut media website
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 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, 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.
The legal settlement follows the November announcement that Michael Voris, who founded St. Michael’s Media and its media
outlet, was stepping down as president. The organization said it accepted his resignation due to his “breaching the Church Militant morality clause,” without providing details.
De Laire also sued Voris individually. The court set an April 15 trial date, but Voris asked for an extension for medical reasons.
The 2019 Church Militant article, titled “NH Vicar Changes Dogma Into Heresy,” cast aspersions on de Laire’s emotional state, said he had “botched” cases he had handled and was known as a “troublemaker” in the Vatican — all claims the site now acknowledges were not properly vetted.
De Laire is the judicial vicar of the Manchester Diocese.
At the time, the article was posted anonymously. Church Militant now acknowledges that it was written by Marc Balestrieri, a canon lawyer, and said it could not substantiate the claims in the article. Church Militant stated that Balestrieri didn’t disclose his role in a dispute with the diocese, “which would have raised questions about the motive” for the article.
St. Michael’s Media “sincerely apologizes for their part in any distress or damage they may have caused Father de Laire,” it said last week on its website.