Church Militant’s Michael Voris steps down after ‘morality clause’ violation

Michael Voris

By Daniel Payne, Catholic News Agency 

Michael Voris, the founder of St. Michael’s Media which operates the controversial Catholic media outlet Church Militant, resigned this week over an undisclosed “morality” violation, the company said on Tuesday. 

Church Militant posted on its website on Tuesday that Voris had “been asked to resign for breaching the Church Militant morality clause.” 

“The board has accepted his resignation,” the notice said. 

“We understand this is a shock to you all, but our founder and former CEO is stepping aside and focusing on his personal health,” the notice said. “The Board of Directors has chosen not to disclose Michael's private matters to the public.” 

“The apostolate will be praying for him, and we kindly ask you to do the same,” they said. 

The enterprise has generated controversy over the years for its often severe criticism of what it sees as lax or insufficiently devout Catholicism. 

The outlet has claimed that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) “isn’t Catholic,” alleging that the bishops “only pretend to represent the Church.” Church Militant has at times held protests outside USCCB gatherings. 

The outlet has likewise at times been highly critical of Pope Francis’s papacy. In 2020 it alleged that Francis’s remarks on homosexual unions were made "in stark and unprecedented defiance of Catholic teaching,” while last year a headline at the site declared that Francis “falsifies biblical teaching on taxes.” 

Church Militant did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday morning regarding the decision. 

In a video posted to his Twitter page on Tuesday, Voris addressed the controversy, alluding to “some very, very ugly truths from my past…that I, for essentially 62 years, have avoided facing.” 

“There are things I have to go away and address and work on,” Voris said.