Firepower

TRANSCRIPT
 

Just before we begin, we'd like to wish a happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone out there, and the reason we are singling out St. Patrick is because roughly half of the Catholic population, historically, in the United States, has roots stretching back to Ireland, which obviously goes back to St. Patrick who converted the savage Celts. So, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Starting this coming Monday and each Monday following, Church Militant will be airing what we call Membership Monday at 7 p.m. ET. It will be a live chat program where Premium members will have access to the live chat — meaning, your questions or comments can be tapped to further the live discussion.

Viewers on the ChurchMilitant.com site or on the Church Militant YouTube site will each be able to view the show. But, again, to get into the chat, please sign up for a Premium membership — that's why we call it Membership Monday. There are so many things going on in the Church and the world that it is impossible to cover everything.

Many times, things happening intersect with the world and the Church and need to be talked about (explained more in-depth) and you need to be given an opportunity to ask more about them. That's why we're launching this new effort. And I'm a bit biased, I know, but I can say with full confidence — there is no outfit in the Catholic world (as well as many secular outfits or personalities) that has the chops to talk about a large assortment of issues like Church Militant.

In short, there's just nobody in the Catholic world that has the firepower we have here at Church Militant. I did a little canvas of our staff, and even I was surprised at how much knowledge and accreditation is here.

Among the staff we have:

• 6 Doctorates
• 13 Master's degrees
• 2 STBs (the ecclesiastical equivalent of a double Master's)
• 5 Former seminarians (or folks with formal religious training)
• 2 Former religious
• 2 STLs (a degree that allows you to teach in seminary)
• 2 Actual attorneys

That is a virtual tsunami of brains and smarts. Add to that, most of the producers, reporters and hosts have been personally trained by me — even if they would say they were thrown into the deep end, which they were.

This is a horn-tooting exercise, but folks scouring the internet need to know the advantages of coming to Church Militant for news and insights. During my secular career, I received four Emmy awards for investigative reporting and writing, 10 Emmy nominations, a number of Associated Press awards, Michigan broadcaster awards and Detroit Press Club awards.

And in addition to all of that, it is impossible to be successful in the news media world and not learn an awful lot about an awful lot — it just comes with the job. It's why we can see through, for example, the bishops' bull, and they know we know they're lying and deflecting.

I've taken those experiences and skills and passed them on to the staff here. And those who adapted and embraced all that and are still here are doing very well. They've learned how to chase down a story, get the facts, what questions to ask, how to do an interview, develop sources, look for angles, go deeper — in short, how to become information gurus.

When you come to Church Militant, for example, for our Membership Monday, as well as other programs and articles, you do get analysis and commentary, as well as the actual data points of the news. But that analysis has massive firepower behind it, as we showed you earlier, firepower not only from academic credentials but also expert training.

We are not like other Catholic sites or internet personalities who have next to zero credentials or professional experience, who offer little else than their not-very-well-informed opinion on something. There is a proliferation of podcasts and internet offerings now, much of it video, and in the Catholic world, it was Church Militant who got here first and, dare I say, best.

Again, I know this may sound like bragging, but given the huge number of places and people you can hear things from, we need to remind viewers that not all sites and personalities who have an opinion or webcast are created equal.

There is a lot of competition out there for your time and eyes and ears and absolutely no one, certainly in the Catholic world, as well as many secular sites, has the chops and credentials that Church Militant does. The amount of information that pours in here every day is astounding, and it all has to be dealt with, examined, talked about, followed up with, vetted, and then presented.

We may not do it perfectly every time, but we do it better than anyone else. We don't publish clickbait. We made a decision a long time ago that we would earn your trust by being accurate, not flashy and trashy. And to that point, and to show how impactful Church Militant is, the latest so-called artificial intelligence search engine, ChatGPT, when you type in Church Militant, comes back with a report that says Church Militant reporting is "unreliable."

The comment that comes back is, "While it is true that the website Church Militant for being a controversial and highly partisan source, it has also been criticized by some for publishing misleading and inaccurate information."

But, wait for it: 

In contrast, it is generally recommended that individuals seek out reputable sources with a track record of accuracy and impartiality when researching sensitive and complex topics like sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Such sources might include mainstream news outlets with established journalistic standards, academic research, or official documents and reports from organizations like the Catholic Church or law enforcement agencies.

So the very sources who lie, cheat, beg, borrow and steal that we report on are the ones ChatGPT says you should turn to for truthful info. You mean like Biden and Merrick Garland's FBI, who name Church Militant in their dossier as some kind of domestic terror threat?

Or the U.S. bishops who covered up the rapes of thousands and thousands of mostly teenage boys and have paid out almost $5B in secret settlements, and who have had to bankrupt close to three dozen dioceses while sitting on a secret slush fund with billions more in it? Or the Marxist media who work hand in glove with Big Tech and Capitol Hill commies to squelch the truth about every single topic that comes up?

You mean those reliable sources? You cannot make this stuff up, folks. Church Militant is a constant target precisely because what we report is based on fact, and they know it. That's why no other Catholic media apostolate or operation draws the scrutiny that we do, plain and simple. We talk plainly, truthfully and reliably — and the bad actors hate it. And we have the firepower here to ensure we know what we're talking about.

So mark down on your calendars, each Monday night at 7 p.m. ET live, beginning this Monday, March 20 — Membership Monday. Tune in, and if you want get in on the chat, sign up for a Premium membership and sound off. Ask your questions and bring up whatever you want — again, this Monday at 7 ET.

A happy St. Patrick's Day to you and your loved ones.