by Joshua J. McElwee
Two of the Catholic blogospheres most conservative voices are headed out to sea.
Michael Voris and Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, two frequently polemic right-wing Catholic internet personalities, have announced they will be hosting a Lenten cruise to the Caribbean.
According to Voris, the cruise includes “prayer, Mass, confession, talks, and sharing — all in the beautiful setting of a cruise to the Caribbean.”
Called a “Year of Faith Retreat at Sea,” the seven-day cruise leaves from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., March 10 and returns after stops in St. Maarten and the U.S. Virgin Islands March 17.
Voris, who heads the right-wing site ChurchMilitant.tv, is known for internet videos at the site in which he frequently mocks or disparages those with opposing viewpoints, once labeling U.S. Catholic sisters as those who “lie and cheat and distort the truth.”
Announcing the trip in a Nov. 28 video, Voris said that because the church is “under such vicious, blatant attack” it is time for Catholics “who are authentic in their concern and love for the church” to retreat together.
Among the activities during the cruise, priced from $1,000-2,800, will be twelve talks by Zuhlsdorf, an American priest incardinated in the Italian diocese of Velletri-Segni and known for his blog “What Does the Prayer Really Say?”
Zuhlsdorf frequently uses the blog to express support for the pre-Vatican II Tridentine Mass and is known for the phrase “Say the Black — Do the Red,” an exhortation to priests to stick strictly to the instructions of the Roman Missal during Mass.
Voris, a Detroit native who formerly called his site “RealCatholicTV,” changed its name earlier this year following negative statements from the Detroit archdiocese. Voris’ site, the archdiocese said in February, “does not have the authorization required under church law to identify or promote itself as Catholic.”
Describing the cruise as an opportunity to reinforce the faith, Voris says participants will “form friendships and relationships…that will last into the Kingdom to come.”
“Catholics need to come together…and simply rest in the faith, in the arms of the blessed Lord, his holy mother and splendid bride, the church he established personally and paid for in his own blood,” Voris states.
