What Really Happened at Church Militant

Addressing Falsehoods About My Time at St. Michael’s Media

By Christine Niles

This account is given, not because I wish to rehash the events of 2023, nor to air dirty laundry, nor to attack my former boss. It’s given solely in response to false claims that I “knew” about my former boss’ misconduct and turned a blind eye — claims that invariably surface again and again by critics in their attempts to discredit my investigative journalism.

The latest slurs have arisen primarily from Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) loyalists, angry that I am once again addressing the failures of SSPX leadership to address serious problems of sex abuse in its ranks.

This rumor arose shortly after the news erupted in November 2023 of Michael Voris’ resignation as CEO from Church Militant, based on a breach of its morality clause.

But the rumor is categorically false. In fact, the exact opposite is true.

When other staff failed to report his misconduct, I was the whistleblower who brought evidence of it to the board of directors, leading directly to his resignation.

BACKGROUND

I resigned from Church Militant in November 2023, partly owing to concerns over the toxic environment being fostered at the time, and partly owing to concerns that high-level staff were ignoring potential misconduct.

In early November, I was made aware of content that signified potential misconduct. Without going into details, I will say that it was not 100% proof of misconduct, but appeared sufficiently worrying that I could not simply ignore it.

I immediately brought it to the attention of a longtime, high-ranking staff member, hoping he would bring it to the board of directors. The staffer assured me he would deal with it. 

Before he left the room, he told me to delete the files. Normally, I would obey the orders of a superior, but in this case, he was not my superior; plus, he was asking me to delete evidence of potentially serious misconduct. 

Instead, I preserved the evidence on a hard drive, and deleted it from the Church Militant-owned laptop.

Days passed without news. I then called up the staff member, who vaguely offered that he had handled it. By the end of our conversation, it was clear to me that he was satisfied with Voris' explanation, that he would take no further action, and that the board of directors would not be informed.

I was again deeply troubled. The next day — after praying the Surrender Novena, which gave me courage to trust God completely for my family's future — I submitted my resignation letter to the board.

AFTER MY RESIGNATION

After my resignation, several sources — separate and independent from one another — reached out to me privately with further, troubling evidence of what appeared to be a double life. To be clear, none of the alleged activity involved illegal conduct or crimes. But they did not reveal someone who appeared to be leading a faithful Catholic life, nor someone fit to continue as CEO of a Catholic apostolate.

I was aware that outrageous lies had been said of Voris previously, so instead of leaping to conclusions, I did my ethical due diligence and set about vetting the allegations to determine if they were credible.

After doing my best that week to vet the evidence, I then did what was my moral obligation to do: I wrote a letter to the board of directors making them aware of the allegations. Some of them I was unable to confirm, but I believed the board had the right to at least be aware of them so that they could confront Voris and learn the truth.

(My letter would later be leaked by a staff member.)

I did not undertake this action lightly. It was a painful and difficult decision, considering the longtime professional relationship I’d had with a man I once considered a friend and mentor.

I am told the board of directors privately confronted Voris about each of the allegations. He apparently admitted to some of them. The board demanded his immediate resignation, and he agreed. Four days later, he formally resigned.

I do not know how long Voris had been struggling. I do not know if the struggles spanned years, or months or weeks. But once they were brought to my attention, I did what I was morally obligated to do. I acted with integrity — then, and now.

In response to questions about how I remained unaware of his apparent double life, especially as a member of the board, I’ve already addressed some of this in a 2023 video: In the last couple of years before I left, Voris was seen less and less frequently in the studio, neither leading the apostolate in Morning and Evening Prayer, as he used to do, nor spending much time in the studio, as he once did.

He would typically arrive around the middle of the day, spend 1-2 hours shooting the Vortex and taking care of various administrative and other matters, and then leave, either to work from home or to go elsewhere, while the rest of us worked at the studio for the full eight hours daily, taking part in Morning and Evening Prayer, as required of staff.

I was busy focusing on raising my family, and working on my investigative journalism and news reporting. I had a full schedule, occupied entirely by family and work. I wasn’t keeping tabs on my boss’ private life. And he did an excellent job of hiding it from others.

As to the board of directors, I was a member in name only. I was never called to a board meeting, nor was I asked to vote on a single issue. It didn't factor into my daily work, and I remained unaware of high-level decisions being made about the future of the apostolate. Again, my  life was preoccupied with other matters. Other than the required production or hosting duties at work, I kept to myself, and focused on raising my family.

DOUBLE STANDARD?

I also want to address the accusation that I showed a double standard by refusing to reveal details of Voris' misconduct, while exposing the sins and crimes of clergy in my investigations. That charge fails, and here's why:

The clergy I exposed were sexual predators who harmed children or vulnerable adults. They were committing crimes. Voris, to the contrary, was not a sexual predator, nor did the evidence reveal he had committed any crimes. 

As a note: There have been times in my career that I've chosen not to publicly report on the moral failings of certain priests (failures that did not involve crimes). I would instead confront them or their bishop with the evidence privately. These cases would usually result in action to remedy the issue, thus not requiring that I go public to expose any cover-up.

The Catholic Church teaches that detraction is the grave sin of revealing the hidden faults or sins of another without sufficient cause, in such a way that the person’s reputation or good name is seriously damaged. This is why Scripture counsels us to first go privately to another and confront them. Only after they've obstinately refused to repent and insist on continuing in their misconduct may one go public. I take this seriously when it comes to my reporting, and always try to ensure that I never engage in the sin of detraction, and that any clerical misconduct I report has sufficient justification, for the good of souls and protection and safety of the flock.

I applied the same attitude toward my former boss. I first chose to handle it privately, as is right and proper. And the board responded by acting appropriately and swiftly. Not only was Voris made to resign immediately, he no longer had access to the studio, and he was no longer a member of the board. Rather than keeping things quiet, the board issued a public statement explaining his resignation.

If things had been otherwise, if the board had failed to act appropriately at first, if it had chosen instead to protect its CEO while punishing the whistleblower, then I would have made the difficult but necessary choice of going public with the allegations. As I've learned through my years of reporting on the Catholic Church, sometimes media scrutiny is the only thing that will get leaders to act, not because they've had a change of conscience, but because they want to be spared the headache and humiliation of public scandal.

It seems at least some of the critics angry at me for refusing to reveal the details of Voris' misconduct are more concerned about satisfying their prurient interests than engaging honestly and in good faith.

I will add that there was anger by some staff after Voris was forced to resign, because some of the board members loyal to him appear to have wanted to bring him back to Church Militant after a very brief hiatus. Staff who strongly objected were then fired, after they'd been promised there would be no retaliation for honestly sharing their concerns. 

This is what led former staff member David Gordon to lead a mass staff walk-out, with approximately 12 staff members who left and quit in a single day.

FALLOUT

While Voris' enemies relished his downfall, I took no such pleasure. It was a sad and tragic thing, after so many good souls devoted years of time, energy and love into building up the apostolate. I have many good memories of my time there, made good friends, some with whom I still keep in touch. And I learned essential skills that help me continue my work in media to this day.

The collapse of Church Militant is a warning to all who begin their work for God with zeal and the best of intentions. It matters not how one begins, but how one ends. Perseverance in prayer and fidelity to God are key. 

And repeated, grievous sin will result in God eventually withdrawing His blessings and graces, and allowing ruin — temporal and spiritual — onto your household. It is a severe mercy, meant to bring the unfaithful soul back to His loving Father.