Michael Voris
| Michael Voris | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 20, 1961 Big Spring, Texas[1] |
| Nationality | United States |
| Education |
University of Notre Dame (B.A.)[2] Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (S.T.B.) |
| Occupation | Catholic apologist, journalist |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Website |
www |
Gary Michael Voris (born 20 August 1961) is an American Roman Catholic journalist, polemicist, and apologist. He is the president and founder of Saint Michael's Media, a religious apostolate producing on-demand video programs on the website ChurchMilitant.com.
Background
Voris attended the University of Notre Dame, graduating in 1983 with a degree in communications with a focus on history in politics. He also attended two years of seminary training at St. Joseph's Seminary in New York during the 1980s.[3] Between 1983 and 1986 he became a television anchor, producer and reporter for various CBS affiliates in New York, Albany, Duluth and Cheyenne.[4] In 1989 he became a news reporter and producer for a Fox affiliate in Detroit, where he won four Emmy Awards for production between 1992 and 1996.[4]
In 1997 he began operation of an independent television production company called Concept Communication, LLC. This limited liability company was registered by co-owners Gary Michael Voris and John Fitzpatrick Mola with the State of Michigan on July 8, 1997.[5] Shortly thereafter on July 23, 1997, Voris and Mola registered a video with the US Copyright Office titled "Double Trouble".[6] The nature of the content of this video is not known as it does not appear to have been released publicly.
Voris cites the death of his brother from a heart attack in 2003, followed by his mother dying from stomach cancer in 2004 as the events that moved him to go from being "a lukewarm Catholic, someone who usually just went through the motions at church" to an "aggressive global advocate for conservative Catholics... on a burning mission to save Catholicism and America by trying to warn the public about what he sees as a decline of morality in society."[7]
In 2009, Voris successfully completed a post-graduate program and while graduating Magna Cum Laude, received a STB degree from the Angelicum in Rome, Italy, via Sacred Heart Major Seminary.[4]
Voris has never been married, is reported to work "up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week" on creating presentations for St. Michael's Media,[7] and is a consecrated lay celibate.[8]
St. Michael's Media
After being a guest speaker at several Roman Catholic parishes in Detroit and serving as a host on the Michigan Catholic Radio network, in 2006 Voris started the digital television studio St. Michael’s Media in Ferndale, Michigan.[4] Voris's move into Roman Catholic video broadcasting was in response to the book and film The Da Vinci Code.[9] Voris had planned to make a one-hour TV program in order to refute the image of the Catholic Church put forward by Dan Brown's work. He came to believe "that the challenges facing the Catholic Church in the United States were much larger and more pernicious than a single blockbuster."[9]
Voris withdrew much of his retirement fund, and with volunteers began St. Michael's Media.[9] With his background in secular broadcasting Voris felt he could provide a level of production that could compete with mainstream talk shows. He began hosting "The One True Faith" in 2006, and began hosting a Catholic talk radio show, "News and Views Weekly," in 2007.[9] Voris's work soon received an endorsement from then-Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke of St. Louis.[9] By early 2008 Voris's programs "expanded into markets from New York to California, from Ontario to the Philippines."[9] On September 1, 2008 he partnered with RealCatholicTV.com, which is owned by Marc Brammer (a business developer for Moody's) who lives in South Bend, Indiana and is a member of Opus Dei.[7] Some of the Catholic video segments/programs Voris has worked on include: "The Vortex", "The One True Faith", "Catholic Investigative Agency", "The Armor of God", and "Where did the Bible Come From?"
Later in 2008 Voris' work was endorsed by Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J., founder of Catholic Views Broadcast Inc.,[10] who began televising "The One True Faith" on channel K16HY-D in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area that year.[11]
In April 2015, ChurchMilitant.TV moved its content to the website ChurchMilitant.com.
In conjunction with his media programs, Voris has traveled extensively, including video-recording and speaking in Nigeria, the Philippines, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Rome, New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland and The Netherlands. In addition to his media work Voris often speaks at retreats, conferences and parishes on various Catholic topics.
Honours
-
Royal House of Portugal: Knight of the Order of Saint Michael of the Wing (2011)[4]
References
- ↑ http://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/time-bombs-in-the-march-for-life
- ↑ 1984-08-03 University of Notre Dame Commencement Program
- ↑ "St. Michael's Media – Meet the Staff".
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Biography of Michael Voris". Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ↑ "State of Michigan LLC Articles of Organization".
- ↑ "Library of Congress Registration for "Double Trouble"".
- 1 2 3 Niraj Warikoo (February 13, 2012). "Views on provocative Real Catholic TV station anger Detroit archdiocese and others". Detroit Free Press.
- ↑ Michael Voris. "The Truth About Natural Family Planning". ChurchMilitantTV.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Emmy Award-Winning Broadcaster Leads Catholic Media Company". Catholic PRWire. March 31, 2008. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
- ↑ Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J. (April 2009). "Ownership Transferred from Catholic Views Broadcast, Inc. [CVBI] to St. Michael Broadcasting [SMB]".
- ↑ Fr. Kenneth Baker S.J. (March 2008). "Fr. Kenneth Baker S.J. letter".
