{"id":20283,"date":"2013-01-31T09:02:53","date_gmt":"2013-01-31T14:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=20283"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:00:47","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:00:47","slug":"lately-i-have-begun-to-feel-differently-about-the-way-michael-voris-defends-the-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/01\/lately-i-have-begun-to-feel-differently-about-the-way-michael-voris-defends-the-church\/","title":{"rendered":"“Lately, I have begun to feel differently about the way Michael Voris defends the Church…”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

While it\u2019s not unusual to find Michael Voris detractors<\/a><\/strong> on the interwebs, it is<\/em> surprising to find one like this.<\/p>\n

A woman who blogs as \u201cCatholic in Brooklyn\u201d<\/a><\/strong> has been an admirer and supporter of Michael Voris and his online apostolate. \u00a0But in a long blog post\u2014one notable for its charity as well as its clarity\u2014she says she\u2019s having second thoughts:<\/p>\n

Lately, though, I have begun to feel differently about the way in which Voris defends the Church. \u00a0He is a lot like talk radio in that he creates an \u201cus versus them\u201d mentality, and the \u201cthem\u201d, more often than not, is not even those in the secular world world who actively oppose the Church, but our own bishops and priests. \u00a0Voris actually seems to relish pointing out the spiritual failings of the bishops and priests of the \u201cChurch of Nice\u201d as he calls it\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026Voris describes the Church of Nice as follows:<\/p>\n

the saccharine syrupy hand holding ultra-feminized altar girl protestant hymn singing social justice priest facing with his back to God staring at the people staring back at him\u00a0Church \u2013 in short practically every parish in the western world.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Is this really what Our Lord wants us to do, to attack fellow believers? \u00a0I am also very concerned about the blanket statement Voris makes here: \u00a0\u201cin short, practically every parish in the western world.\u201d \u00a0By making this statement Voris is, in effect, setting himself up as judge and juror over the entire contemporary Church. \u00a0Painting the entire Church with one broad brush stroke is prejudicial to say the least and, as can be seen, leads to very\u00a0judgmental\u00a0thinking. \u00a0If we really believe that \u201cpractically every parish in the western world\u201d is in spiritual trouble, shouldn\u2019t we, with great humility and mindful of our own sinfulness, be reaching out to them with love and compassion and praying that they will turn from error instead of just gleefully pointing out how wrong they are?<\/p>\n

\u2026In [another] Vortex episode, Michael Voris actually makes the following statement about the hierarchy of the Catholic Church:<\/p>\n

Too much of the establishment in the Church have turned to dead branches and the sooner they are cut off and become fuel for the fire .. the better for the rest of the vine.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Michael Voris is talking about priests and bishops \u2013 men ordained by the Holy Spirit \u2013 when he says they are dead branches who should be \u201ccut off and become fuel for the fire.\u201d \u00a0Michael might do well to look at the story of David and Saul. \u00a0Saul was anointed the first king of Israel and was a total failure at it. \u00a0David was then chosen to replace him, and Saul reacted by trying to have David killed. \u00a0At one point David had a chance to kill his mortal enemy, Saul, and David was urged to do so by his men. \u00a0But David\u2019s answer to this was, \u201c<\/span>The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord\u2019s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Catholic bishops and priests have been specially ordained by God. \u00a0We have no right in making any judgments about their souls and hoping for the day that \u201cthey are cut off and become fuel for the fire.\u201d \u00a0We certainly need to call them out when they are disobedient to the Church, but we must never, never rejoice in their destruction.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There\u2019s much, much more. It\u2019s sane and sensible\u2014and, even better, both constructive and instructive. \u00a0\u00a0Read the rest. \u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While it\u2019s not unusual to find Michael Voris detractors on the interwebs, it is surprising to find one like this. A woman who blogs as \u201cCatholic in Brooklyn\u201d has been an admirer and supporter of Michael Voris and his online apostolate. \u00a0But in a long blog post\u2014one notable for its charity as well as its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1],"tags":[579],"class_list":["post-20283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogging","category-uncategorized","tag-michael-voris"],"yoast_head":"\n"Lately, I have begun to feel differently about the way Michael Voris defends the Church..."<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While it's not unusual to find Michael Voris detractors on the interwebs, it is surprising to find one like this. 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