By LifeSiteNews (Politics) | Created at 2026-06-08 13:16:46 | Updated at 2026-06-08 15:22:23
2 hours ago
Mon Jun 8, 2026 - 9:09 am EDT
(LifeSiteNews) — Dear friends,
In 1948, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen sounded the alarm about a coming “counter-church.”
He called it “the Ape of the Church” because the Devil “is the ape of God.”
Sheen warned that it would have “all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content.”
“It will be a mystical body of the Antichrist,” he said, “that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ.”
Sheen was describing how communism could come to rival the Church, both in its structure and in men’s hearts.
But the reality has proved far worse than even this warning.
That’s because the ape church is not an external rival like communism troubling the faithful today, but a deception pretending to be the Catholic Church.
Many prominent churchmen have discussed this.
- Cardinal Burke spoke, in 2012, of clergy who thought they “were forming a new Church,” and that everything before Vatican II was defective.
- Cardinal Ratzinger said, in 1988, that many people were unsure “if the Church of today is really the same as that of yesterday, or if they have changed it for something else without telling people.”
- Father Linus Clovis stated, in 2017, “that the Catholic Church and the anti-Church currently coexist in the same sacramental, liturgical, and juridical space” – and that the anti-Church, “having grown stronger is now attempting to pass itself off as the true Church.”
Even Padre Pio is said to have warned the exorcist Don Gabriele Amorth:
It is Satan who has entered the womb of the Church, and within a while he will rule over a false church
On September 24, Archbishop Sheen will be beatified.
It’s a great irony that Archbishop Sheen is being beatified under the very man who wants a “Synodal Church.”
LifeSiteNews is one of the only major news organizations prepared to call out this synodal “Ape Church” – and to carry on calling it out, no matter the cost.
When the May 2025 conclave chose Leo XIV, the Catholic media scene overlooked his first words from the Loggia: “We want to be a synodal Church.”
But do we really “want to be a synodal Church”?
At LifeSiteNews, we do not.
That’s why LifeSiteNews deals with the hard questions others won’t touch. We tell you:
- The truth about the errors and heresies Leo XIV is preaching,
- The terrible offences he is committing, like beatifying a bishop who abused teenage boys,
- How to keep the faith in these times of trial.
When Our Lady’s title of Co-Redemptrix was mocked by Cardinal “Tucho” Fernández, LifeSiteNews defended Our Lady’s honor, and made the true doctrine known.
When others fell silent in the hope of saving the Traditional Latin Mass, LifeSiteNews continued to speak up on the doctrinal crisis, the persecution of faithful priests, and the unrelenting betrayal of Christ by Leo XIV’s Vatican.
We do this out of love: love for God, love for our readers, and love for the Church.
But we cannot do this alone.
Our coverage of the crisis in the Church, and our vital efforts to spread the faith, are costly.
In order to maintain LifeSiteNews’ operations for the coming quarter, we must raise $750,000 – and we must do it by the end of this month.
We need these funds to maintain our cutting-edge Catholic coverage and analysis.
Without these funds, our operations will falter, right at the moment the Church needs them the most.
And one thing is sure: the Ape Church has no financial concerns at all.
Your support right now will determine whether we hold the line for the sake of the Church.
- $500 will cover a full day’s live filming in Rome, making sure we can bring you the news live from the Holy City.
- $1,000 will ensure our faith-affirming Rome Life Forum takes place in 2026 near Our Lady’s shrine at Fatima.
- $5,000 or more will help us fulfill our ambition of a permanent presence in Rome, day in day out, until this crisis ends.
If you believe that Archbishop Sheen was right, and that we should fight against the Ape Church – please act now.
Generous donations of $50 and $100 and $250 are the backbone of LifeSiteNews’ work, defending life, faith, family, and freedom.
They make all the difference in our combat against the “Ape of the Church.” Without them:
- Our Lady’s honor will be offended,
- The truths of the faith will be obscured,
- The youth will fall away from the Church,
- Immoral lifestyles will become normalized,
- … and Christians will be persecuted.
Sacrificial gifts of $500 and $1,000 and $10,000 will help us bring this crisis to an end even sooner, and keep many souls out of Hell’s fires.
We will not give up our fight for Christ the King and His true Church, against the Ape Church.
But we cannot do it without you.
Will you give $50, $250, or $500 today to support our faith-saving Catholic coverage?
Yours in the fight for truth,
John-Henry Westen
Editor-in-Chief, LifeSiteNews
P.S. If you prefer, you can mail your donation to our U.S. or Canadian offices or call (800) 775-7009.
US MAILING ADDRESS
LifeSiteNews.com
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PPS: While other outlets bury their heads in the sand about the modernist and globalist Vatican agenda, they continue ruining souls.
If we fail to raise the $750,000 we need to secure our operations for this quarter, the effects will be rapid.
- The Rome Life Forum may need to be restricted or cancelled,
- Our ability to respond quickly to each new act of the Ape Church will falter,
- Our team of reporters, analysts, and researchers may need to shrink,
- Our ability to report real, unvarnished news about the Ape of the Church – and hold powerful men to account – may die.
Without your support today the only Catholic media outlet willing to confront corruption in Rome may be forced to step back.
If you want LifeSiteNews to stay strong on the field of battle – to expose the truth, defend the faith, and give a voice to the faithful – please give today.
John-Henry is the co-founder and CEO of LifeSiteNews.com. He and his wife Dianne have eight children and they live in the Ottawa Valley in Ontario, Canada.
He has spoken at conferences and retreats, and appeared on radio and television throughout the world. John-Henry founded the Rome Life Forum, an annual strategy meeting for life, faith and family leaders worldwide. He is a board member of the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family. He is a consultant to Canada’s largest pro-life organization Campaign Life Coalition, and serves on the executive of the Ontario branch of the organization. He has run three times for political office in the province of Ontario representing the Family Coalition Party.
John-Henry earned an MA from the University of Toronto in School and Child Clinical Psychology and an Honours BA from York University in Psychology.
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