When Will Michael Voris Stop Hating Himself?

Michael Voris devotes a major part of his self-proclaimed apostolate to trying to destroy anyone in the Catholic Church who shows any compassion or empathy for homosexuals.  Voris especially goes after Catholic priests and bishops, the majority of whom, according to Voris, are either homosexual or "homosexualist." There are a lot of problems in the Catholic Church, but according to Michael Voris, most of the problems mainly center around the "homosexual agenda." Following is an excerpt from a "Vortex" episode from January 11, 2016:

"Here is the situation in a nutshell: The American Catholic Church is largely controlled by homosexual clergy and their allies. Those not in the network are powerless to confront it owing to its vast influence and fear factor, as well as not really understanding how it operates. The Catholic establishment media won't get within a million miles of this issue of the homosexual collective because they too are scared."

Voris seems unable to differentiate between showing respect and compassion for homosexuals and condoning homosexuality. He seems to view one action as equivalent to the other.

In July, 2015, Voris smeared Detroit's Sacred Heart Seminary with the following in a Vortex episode entitled, "Gay Priest Cavalcade"

A faculty member priest in Sacred Heart Seminary here in Detroit recently made an announcement to the entire seminary student collective — about 60 young men — that they need to be sure and wear their bathrobes coming out of the bathroom showers instead of just towels because a number of their brother seminarians are gay, and the guys in towels are occasions of sin for the gay guys.

If you have successfully picked your jaw up off the floor and are ready to ask if you heard that right — you did. Another faculty member told a class that the seminary accepts men with homosexual pasts.

Kathy Schiffer, in her Patheos blog, pointed out the fallacy in Voris's statement:

I obtained a copy of a redacted statement which was sent to seminary faculty, responding to Voris’ charges. According to the Sacred Heart Seminary administration,

Sacred Heart adheres absolutely to the Church’s teaching regarding those who experience SSA. Unfortunately, Voris did not check the story with the formator whose alleged comments he quoted. The formator did not use the term “gay,” but rather “same-sex attracted.” He asked men to wear bathrobes to the shower for the sake of decorum and charity. As an example of potential uncharity he said, “What if unknowingly one of your brothers suffered from SSA? Your lack of modesty would be uncharitable considering your neighbor’s needs.” The men understood this completely.

Who could be so naive as to think that among a group of sixty men, even devout men who are hoping to serve the Church as priests, none has faced the temptation toward homosexuality? There may be a seminarian who hasn’t even realized that he is homosexual, or who is hiding it.

However, the Seminary’s statement continues with a straightforward denial:

“…the claim that there is a significant or even nominal presence of homosexuality at Sacred Heart Major Seminary is patently false.”

Unfortunately, Voris has never allowed the facts to stand in the way of his arguments. The sad part is that he truly believes what he says and promotes his "misunderstanding" which is then accepted by his followers as fact.  These followers then join Voris in his jihad against Church hierarchy.  This is most definitely not the work of the Holy Spirit.

One of Michael Voris's favorite targets is Cardinal Timothy Dolan, whom he has accused countless times of supporting and promoting the "homosexual agenda."  I have shown the fallacies and lies in Voris's arguments many times over the years.  Just a couple of months ago Voris threatened to come to the New York Archdiocese and personally "clean house".  The following is a public statement made by Michael Voris to the New York Archdiocese in a January, 2016 show:

"You clear out that homosexual collective running the Church in New York and in many other places around the country or we and faithful Catholics all around the county will clear it out for you."

Just how does Voris propose to "clear it out"?  Is he making personal threats?  Voris has no authority to make such threats, and if the Archdiocese wanted to, they could take Voris to court over making such personal threats, and they would more than likely win.

But this is not the first time Voris has crossed the line in making personal threats against Cardinal Dolan, as pointed out by Dr. Gerard Nadal in this September, 2014 blog post:

Michael has crossed a line: A very dangerous line.

Calling for the abdication of Cardinal Dolan and many other non specified bishops, coupled with the stern admonition that the time has come for an, “authentic Catholic uprising,” has the potential to incite passions in those who might not be as stable as one would hope. Consider this line from his commentary:

“Do not think the punishment visited on you will not be of the most severe sort when you die, perhaps even before you die, if you do not change.”

Michael needs to walk this one back: Way, WAY back. At this point Cardinal Dolan would be right to wonder at the intention behind that statement. It sounds like a veiled threat.

Voris made a veiled threat to another New York priest, Fr. Jonathan Morris, when, in a September 2015 Vortex episode, Voris said of Father Morris, "Won't someone rid us of this troublesome priest?"

I could go on ad infinitum with examples of Voris's attacks against anyone he perceives as being "soft" on homosexuals.  I will let these few examples suffice for the moment.  

Why does Michael Voris see a homosexual conspiracy under every rock in the Catholic Church? Why does he seem absolutely consumed by this issue?  Why is Voris always talking about the lack of "manly men" in the Church, and the feminization of the clergy?  Why is Voris continuously condemning Catholic priests and bishops with such statements as "evil, wicked, self-interested clergy who had no concern for their vows, promises or souls"?

Well, we got the answers to all these questions this past week from Michael Voris himself. Michael Voris "came out" and finally admitted that he is gay. Most Catholic bloggers praised Voris for his bravery. This included those who have had real problems with Voris in the past couple of years because Voris refuses to publicly condemn Pope Francis. They cheer Voris on for his incessant condemnation of bishops and priests, but for most of them, the fact that Voris will not condemn the Pope is enough to reject him.

But this week, they put all of that aside, and almost with one voice, supported Voris with great compassion.  Of course, for most of them, that went hand-in-hand with condemnation of the "Church of Nice" as seen in this comment from Louis Verrecchio's blog in a post aptly entitled, "Beating The Devil To The Punch":

richAPRIL 22, 2016 

The past is the past which is true. He’s going to catch heat for waiting until he was about to be exposed before coming clean. Im not saying he was obliged to come clean BUT as alluded to above, when you are in the public eye the sins of your past have a funny way of being brought to light. My problem with him, like it has been for the past three years….and will continue to be….is his refusal to be honest about francis. This current issue is a personal hit to him no doubt, but its not really whats important as far as he’s concerned. In other words, Im not going to let the fact that I feel bad for him right now blind me to what he’s been about for quite a while (at least as long as I knew who he was).

Rich followed up his own comment with this:

richAPRIL 22, 2016 

Let me add, in addition to my first comment, that this smear tactic by the fake cardinal dolan is one more reason for me to DETEST the worldly, godless, vatican 2 false religion. If this clown dolan lived 500 years ago there would be a large pile of wood and a few torches with his name on it. This man, like his boss mr bergoglio, are the epitome of evil.

These two comments sum up the feelings of many traditional Catholic bloggers who, like Voris, want to blame Church hierarchy for everything.  I find it ironic that they are able to show so much compassion for Michael Voris - which is a good thing - but are unable to show that same compassion to others who don't agree with their point of view.  

Why has Voris finally decided to reveal the truth about himself?  Well, once again, he puts the blame on the Catholic hierarchy and claims he is the victim of the diabolical New York Archdiocese. From Voris:

We have on very good authority from various sources that the New York archdiocese is collecting and preparing to quietly filter out details of my past life with the aim of publicly discrediting me, this apostolate and the work here.

The Archdiocese has flatly denied this charge by Voris:

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York told the Catholic Herald: “It is absolutely, 100 per cent untrue that the archdiocese was collecting and preparing to release anything concerning him personally or his website.”

Who are we to believe?  Well, of course all of those following Voris, having listened to him demonize Catholic hierarchy and the New York Archdiocese in particular for years, will believe Voris.   Having caught Voris in many lies over the years, I believe the New York Archdiocese.

So why would Voris try to blame everything on Church hierarchy once again?  Why not just come clean and admit his past?   There are very few among us who have a past of which we are not ashamed.  No one would blame or judge Michael Voris for his past sins.

But there is one person who will not forgive Michael Voris. That judgmental, condemning person is - Michael Voris.

I have long suspected that Michael Voris was gay. I have had comments on my blog from people who said they knew this for a fact. I have deleted these comments because they could not be substantiated. But the reason I have privately believed that Michael Voris is gay is because of the explosive rage and hatred that comes from him against homosexuals and anyone whom he believes supports them.

It is quite apparent that Voris has never come to acceptance of his homosexuality. There is no doubt that he struggles daily with shame and self loathing. He deals with it by projecting this loathing against Catholic hierarchy, whom he describes, as stated above, as "evil, wicked, self-interested clergy who had no concern for their vows, promises or souls."

Voris says that "I did not reveal the specific nature or details of the sins, because when I returned home to the Church, I did not think that a full public confession of details was necessary in order to start proclaiming the great mercy of God."  None of us need or want to know the "details" of his sinful past, but since he has decided to make the fight against homosexuality a central part of his work, it is only right that he disclose his homosexual past.  This actually may have given his work more credence, not less.

But it also leaves us scratching our heads as to why Voris does not have more compassion with those who struggle with this sin.  Anyone who has ever known a gay person knows that no one chooses this lifestyle, but that there is something driving them from within.  That is why many believe that people are born this way, although there is no scientific evidence for this claim.  

This is also the reason why many of us, including many in the Catholic hierarchy, do not condemn homosexuals as evil, wicked people. They are sinners just like us. But homosexuality - like most sexual sins - can only be overcome by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. Homosexuals want to live normal happy lives like all the rest of us. So they try things like same sex marriage - if they can be married and committed to one person, then they will be okay. If they can adopt kids, then they will be okay. But because their lifestyle goes against God's commands, none of these things work. Do we condemn them for that, or do we show compassion and love?

Cardinal Dolan, who is considered the top Catholic United States cleric, has always shown compassion and respect for homosexuals.  This is NOT equivalent to condoning homosexuality.  He is on the Board of Courage, a Catholic ministry to help homosexuals live chaste lives.  He has spoken out forcefully against same sex marriage:

From a July 2011 article in the National Catholic Register:

After marriage was redefined to include same-sex couples in New York, Archbishop Timothy Dolan is warning that this step could lead to a further redefinition that accepts multiple partners and infidelity.

The New York City archbishop said that in recent decades the Church has been a prophetic voice warning that no-fault divorce, contraception, cohabitation and promiscuity would lead to “a cheapening of the marriage bond and harm our kids.”

“And now we ring the steeple bell again at this latest dilution of the authentic understanding of marriage, worried that the next step will be another redefinition to justify multiple partners and infidelity,” he said.

As the article further states:

Archbishop Dolan insisted that, ultimately, regardless of same-sex “marriage” legislation and subsequent intolerance for religious beliefs, the Church always has and will stand “up for marriage: one man and one woman, united in lifelong and faithful love.”

Why doesn't Michael Voris ever tell us about these kind of statements from Cardinal Dolan?  Instead, Voris interprets every statement of compassion as being equivalent to condoning homosexuality.

Cardinal Dolan, in this same article, clearly explains how it is possible to love homosexuals while rejecting the homosexual lifestyle:

The New York archbishop underscored that, from the outset, the goal of Catholics in the fight “was pro-marriage, never anti-gay.”

“As I replied recently to a reporter who asked if I had any message to the gay community, ‘Yes: I love you. Each morning I pray with and for you and your true happiness and well-being. I am honored that so many of you are at home within our Catholic family, where, like the rest of us, we try, with the help of God’s grace and mercy, to conform our lives to Jesus and his message.’”

Whenever Voris sees statements like the one above, he seethes with anger. He does not see compassion and love in this statement. He sees only "evil, wicked, self-interested clergy who had no concern for their vows, promises or souls."

Why? The answer is really quite apparent. His self loathing and shame will not allow him to see anything else. He projects all of this self hatred onto the clergy of the Catholic Church. They are the reason he fell into such a sinful lifestyle. They are the reason he caused his family so much heartache. They are the reason why he struggles with sin every day of his life. The "evil wicked clergy" caused him to become a great sinner, and they must go to hell for it! As Voris publicly told Cardinal Dolan, he is ready to take charge and personally purge the Catholic hierarchy.

In his "coming out" video, Voris mentioned great saints who left behind very sinful lives, "countless men and women with horrible, horrible lives who became saints: Paul, Augustine, Francis, Ignatius, Margaret of Cortona, the patron saint of reformed prostitutes." The big difference between these saints and Michael Voris is that they never tried to hide who they were. They came to God, confessed their sins without laying the blame on anyone else, and then left those sins behind. Unless and until Michael Voris stops blaming the Catholic Church for his sins, he will never be free from those sins.

Voris has tried very hard to hide his past from the public. Since I don't believe that the New York Archdiocese is the reason Michael Voris finally decided to review his true self, I can only wonder what the real reason is. I hope I am wrong, but be prepared for other revelations to come.

Thanks to Terry Nelson of Abbey Roads, I watched a very beautiful video just last week produced by Courage ministry entitled, "The Desire of the Everlasting Hills." You can watch the entire video HERE. I would highly recommend it. This video tells the story of three gay Catholics - two men and one woman - who fell away from the Church as young adults, lived very sinful lifestyles, and then returned to the Church and now live chaste lives as devout Catholics. There is no recrimination from any of them against the Catholic church, no blaming anyone else for their sins. They are not out to destroy all of the "evil wicked clergy" of the Catholic Church. There is only a deep love for God and His Church, just as there was for all of the saints listed by Michael Voris in his "coming out" video.

I truly do hope and pray that now that Michael Voris is no longer trying to hide who he is, that he will now be able to let go of all of the rage and hatred that he carries within.  I hope that he will stop blaming the entire world for his sins, and that he will finally be able to let go of the past.  As the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:13-14: