March 3, 2024 / 02:02 PM
Church Militant, the controversial US Catholic outlet that has for years maintained a reputation for combative and antagonistic coverage of Catholic figures and issues, will cease operations next month following a $500,000 defamation judgment against it.
The Boston-based law firm Todd & Weld said in a news release this week that Church Militant had “agreed to a judgment entered against it in the amount of $500,000” in a defamation lawsuit filed by the Fr. Georges de Laire, judicial vicar of the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire.
The outlet had published an article in 2019 titled “NH Vicar Changes Dogma Into Heresy,” in which the author, canonist Marc Balestrieri, claimed “to have spoken with several anonymous sources who supposedly “They made negative comments about Father De Laire both personally and professionally,” explains the law firm.