Editor's Note: I wrote this post in the midst of the lockdowns in 2020. In view of Church Militant engaging in their latest attack on the SSPX, I thought it was worth repeating. John Salvi, CM's "expert," is an apologist with absolutely no authority in the Church. Michael Voris, although he postures as an authority on just about everything, is a big-mouthed layman with a microphone and a green screen. He has absolutely no authority either. It's interesting that part of John Salvi's "expertise," discussed in this video, is his history as a 32nd degree Mason. He uses his wicked past as a credential. Voris rarely talks about his wicked past as an active homosexual and only revealed it when it was about to become public. Neither of these men, Voris or Salvi, are authorities and their statement that the SSPX is in schism is an opinion, nothing more. Voris has made attacking other Catholics a staple of his yellow journalism. Listening to him is like reading the tabloids at the grocery store checkout. Sensationalism unmasked! Here's what I wrote in 2020 and it is just as true today.
The SSPX Revisited
| Archbishop Lefebvre -- Hero or Villain? |
Before I get into the subject of the post, I want to address Church Militant's (CM) April 22nd exposé about the SSPX. Yes I watched the Vortex and read the report. It's horrifying if true, just like the horrifying information about bishops and priests all over the country (and world) that we've been steeped in for years.
Am I ready to throw all the SSPX priests under the bus because of it? No! First of all, we don't know the truth of the matter yet. An accusation is not a conviction. One thing that struck me as I read the report was the lack of backup evidence and the lack of dates. When did these things occur? Was any action taken by the SSPX? How many cases are there? Were they investigated? Were any of them related to Bishop Richard Williamson and the thirty priests expelled from the Society in 2012? The allegations are serious but unproven. Many questions remain unanswered.
The U.S. District of the SSPX responded the next day acknowledging past abuse cases and addressing the CM accusations saying: [Read the rest here.]
The U.S. District of the SSPX responded the next day acknowledging past abuse cases and addressing the CM accusations saying: [Read the rest here.]
"Church Militant," and I put their name in quotes because their name is so inappropriate, is basically a porn website when you analyze their content, their go-to-market strategy and the way they stay in business. How?
ReplyDelete1. Hooking viewers and subscribers with scandalous content. Does anyone go to their website for inspiration to deepen their Catholic Faith? Or, does one go there for content that will provoke anger and/or desires that violate certain Commandments? The internet is filled with content where one can truly deepen their Faith by reading the Gospels, the writings of the saints, approved Catholic prophecy and apparitions, etc. None of that is commonly associated with the Voris and Niles show. Nope. Stories that show (alleged) corruption in the Church, sex scandals, gotcha exposes are what they're known for.
2. A disturbing rise in seedy content. Right before his execution, serial killer Ted Bundy was interviewed by the protestant Dr. James Dobson. Bundy said to Dobson: "I would keep looking for more potent, more explicit, more graphic kinds of material. Like an addiction, you keep craving something which is harder, harder, something which gives you a greater sense of excitement. Until you reach the point that pornography only goes so far…" I'm not going to compare CM's viewers to Ted Bundy but it is worth pointing out that Bundy started out with porn that was at one level but he had to have an increasingly higher level of porn until he couldn't control himself and became what he became. Look at the coverage that CM has had in recent years and the focus on (alleged) behavior by religious that is too carnally horrific for me to repeat here. We went from Cardinal Dolan welcoming Obama to (alleged) homoerotic behavior in monasteries. Even if some of the accusations CM charges are true, the public does not need ALL the gory details. The demons love it when innocent people are presented with pornographic images and words which cause a distraction from focusing on what is above.
3. Pay up you addict! So now, well-intentioned Catholics are looking now and then at CM's content and they find themselves addicted to the non-stop scandalous coverage. Headlines and snippets come at them via email but in order to get all the "juicy details" they need to $ub$cribe. It's the same business model as pornography. Pornographers aren't in this for free: they need addicts to subscribe to their internet filth in order to traffic victims and produce what they produce. No Catholic should have to pay any allegedly Catholic website. At the utmost local level, you can go to Mass on Sunday and whether you put money in the collection plate or not, you can see Our Lord being consecrated on the altar and hear the Word of God in the Gospel and the Epistle.
4. Don't question what we're doing or we'll sue you! Once upon a time, we had laws on the books that kept pornography underground. But then shyster lawyers and activist judges found each other and now we have the mess we have with our culture. I will simply point out that the SSPX and the Carmelites of Wyoming - to my knowledge - have not rightfully gone after CM with slander lawsuits. The same can't be said for the Voris and Niles show.
5. Consider the source. Those who have had extreme scandal in their personal lives and (sincerely) repent and convert need to be commended and prayed for. But... those same people really need to be, like Magdalene, true penitents and spend the rest of their lives as such. Mary Magdalene did not run around after her conversion calling this woman and that woman a "whore." She stayed close to the Blessed Mother, suffered with her and Our Lord at the foot of the Cross and spent her life after the Ascension in poverty and humility, even living in a cave. Can anyone, anyone imagine St. Mary Magdalene, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Augustin or any saint who went from a life of scandalous sins against the Sixth Commandment acting like Michael Voris and Simon Rafe?