Catholic news site Church Militant agrees to pay $500k in defamation case and is expected to close

by | Mar 5, 2024 | Religion

A far-right, unofficial Catholic media website has agreed to pay $500,000 to a New Hampshire priest who sued for defamation over a 2019 article that it now disavows. The website also is planning to shut down soon, the priest’s attorney says.The apology by Church Militant came after the organization agreed last week to a federal court judgment in favor of the Rev. Georges de Laire, an official with the Diocese of Manchester. This legal setback comes just months after its founder’s resignation over a breach of its morality clause.
“As part of the parties’ resolution, Church Militant has represented that it will be shutting down at the end of April,” attorney Howard Cooper of the Boston law firm Todd & Weld, which represented de Laire, said via email.
St. Michael’s Media, the parent firm for the Michigan-based news site, did not immediately confirm the shutdown plan to The Associated Press, and a phone message to its attorneys was not immediately returned. But the Church Militant website said it was closing its online store and having a “Lenten Liquidation Sale” of crucifixes, statues, books and other items.
Church Militant and its sleek newscasts drew a loyal following for years with a mix of fiercely right-wing politics and radically conservative Catholicism in which many of America’s bishops were viewed with suspicion and disgust. It “is …

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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnA far-right, unofficial Catholic media website has agreed to pay $500,000 to a New Hampshire priest who sued for defamation over a 2019 article that it now disavows. The website also is planning to shut down soon, the priest’s attorney says.The apology by Church Militant came after the organization agreed last week to a federal court judgment in favor of the Rev. Georges de Laire, an official with the Diocese of Manchester. This legal setback comes just months after its founder’s resignation over a breach of its morality clause.
“As part of the parties’ resolution, Church Militant has represented that it will be shutting down at the end of April,” attorney Howard Cooper of the Boston law firm Todd & Weld, which represented de Laire, said via email.
St. Michael’s Media, the parent firm for the Michigan-based news site, did not immediately confirm the shutdown plan to The Associated Press, and a phone message to its attorneys was not immediately returned. But the Church Militant website said it was closing its online store and having a “Lenten Liquidation Sale” of crucifixes, statues, books and other items.
Church Militant and its sleek newscasts drew a loyal following for years with a mix of fiercely right-wing politics and radically conservative Catholicism in which many of America’s bishops were viewed with suspicion and disgust. It “is …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
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