I want to draw your attention to an important article by Dan Sealana, about a pastor in Lansing, a Father Jim Rolph. Dan writes that Rolph had allegedly been spiritually and emotionally abusing a woman named Nadja, through a kind of manipulation known as “deliverance prayer.” Deliverance prayer, at least the kind practiced by Rolph and many others, involves convincing the victim that they are being “oppressed” by a demon and that only the person doing the praying is qualified... Read more
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew: Jesus said to his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at... Read more
I want to make one more statement about the ongoing dumpster fire at Church Militant, just to be absolutely clear, and then I hope I never have to write or think about them again. Since the time I wrote that blog post, less than 24 hours ago, David Gordon has switched his video back to public, announced as much, and compared himself to Theoden. I think people who chose to work for a scandal rag for years and are... Read more
Did you ever get a word stuck in your head? That word “apostolate” has been bouncing around in my head all day long. Of course, this is because of the meltdown at Church Militant. Everyone is saying “apostolate” to me and explaining to me why I’m wrong that Church Militant isn’t one. I hate the word “apostolate.” It’s one of those irritating stuffy Catholic words that a certain kind of Catholic repeats to try and sound a certain way, like... Read more
The circus surrounding Michael Voris’s resignation from Saint Michael’s Media and Church Militant just continues to get more ridiculous. Yesterday, one of Church Militant’s erstwhile employees, David Gordon, posted to Twitter (now called X) that he was leaving Church Militant and going to be “posting a total Exposé of all the filth and corruption in house, tonight on my channel.” He posted a short video of himself in his car promising the same at about the same time. By “my... Read more
It was one of those days that’s very hard for former Charismatics. In fact, I’d call it a devil of a day. There was a very silly priest, an alleged exorcist, who was featured in a video going viral on Twitter. The priest was excitedly explaining that there are demonic rituals and “the occult” hidden in Taylor Swift concerts and that you could get possessed if you weren’t careful. I reacted to that like the nonsense it is, because... Read more
When I was ten years old, in the wake of a terrorist attack, I planted a white oak tree. This was in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, shortly before the end of the fourth grade. I was at that terrible Catholic school in Columbus, Ohio, a world away from Oklahoma City, and my parents didn’t let me watch the news. I knew that a huge crowd of people had suffered a calamity, a long way away, and... Read more
You have probably already heard that Cardinal Raymond Burke has once again been slapped down by Pope Francis. Specifically, according to the Associated Press, Francis has taken away Burke’s right to an allowance and a Vatican-subsidized apartment. Burke’s “apartment” is said to be 4,488 square feet, and the only information I can find about his pay is that it’s about $68000 a year (from which he doesn’t pay rent thanks to that behemoth of an apartment). That’s quite a... Read more
On Friday night, we saw the fireworks. The City of Steubenville put off the official Christmas tree lighting Tuesday, due to rain. That meant that on Black Friday, the whole population of Steubenville went downtown to cram themselves into tiny Fort Steuben park to try and catch a glimpse of an artificial tree sticking out of the municipal fountain. We all craned our necks and stood on our toes. A local music group sang “O Holy Night.” We counted... Read more
I didn’t die last week. Thank you to the people who were so kind to me when I was sick with another bad cough. I’m on the mend now. That’s why I didn’t write very much last week. The sudden sickness cleared out, a little slower than it plowed in, with nothing in its wake but sniffles and a messy house. On Thursday we tidied up the house, watched the parade and baked pies. I had to keep stopping to... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In