Voris will address legal trouble, restrict controversial staffer's duties

Madrid, Spain, Aug 22, 2011 / 15:08 pm

RealCatholicTV's Senior Executive Producer Michael Voris says he'll seek to restore his nonprofit corporation's good standing with the state of Michigan, while restricting the activities of a staff member who has apologized for “inappropriate” online writings.

In an online video response to an August 17 CNA article, the RealCatholicTV host – who is also the founder of the nonprofit St. Michael's Media – said that he “did a poor job and allowed things to get sloppy” at his nonprofit company after an administrative assistant left in 2006.

“That is entirely my fault,” Voris stated.

He went on to say that St. Michael's Media was “in the process of getting our records up to date” in order to “file the appropriate back records” to regain good standing with the State of Michigan as a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation.

CNA reported on August 17 that Voris' nonprofit company was, in the words of an official at the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, “no longer registered and in good standing with the State of Michigan” since 2009, after failing to file necessary reports for two years.

Voris also said in his response that RealCatholicTV's Simon Rafe would no longer be serving as an apologist, program host, or public speaker.

CNA also reported that Rafe was the author of writings that Voris later called “very inappropriate,” including the “adult” role-playing game “Castle Dracula.”

Rafe, also the author of stories that introduced lesbian elements into a book set in the Star Wars universe, posted an  August 18 apology on his personal blog “for having scandalized the faithful in any regard.”

“In speaking with Simon, I have no doubt whatsoever about the sincerity of his apology nor his realization that what he did was wrong both personally and professionally,” Voris said in his video response.

He said that “for the foreseeable future,” Rafe would handle only “technical and administrative duties” for both St. Michael's Media and RealCatholicTV.

Voris said it was “unfair” for CNA to have published its story during a “hectic time of production” for RealCatholicTV. He also advised those “who consider themselves our enemies” to “confront us like a man, not some sniveling school girls who resort to tattle tales and smear campaigns.”

The host of “The Vortex” noted that he did not count CNA among his purported “enemies.” He did, however, call attention to “various blogs which make the claim that Catholic News Agency or its affiliate is 4 years behind on its own filings,” one of which he cited in the video's official transcript.

That claim, however, rests upon a misreading of state documents showing that CNA's nonprofit group, in some cases, received notification that its annual reports were overdue. The same documents show that each year's reports were later filed with the state in a matter of weeks or months.

In his Aug. 22 response, Voris also continued to take issue with the organizers of World Youth Day sending out a press release in which they responded to “confusion regarding his affiliation with World Youth Day” by stating that he was “not in any way recognized or approved by World Youth Day 2011.”

“In the mayhem and chaos of World Youth Day, official approval means absolutely next to nothing on the ground,” he observed.

Voris said the official World Youth Day press release, which drew attention to RealCatholicTV's lack of approval from its local bishop, was “beyond ridiculous.”