By LifeSiteNews (Politics) | Created at 2026-06-12 14:41:33 | Updated at 2026-06-13 03:00:22
12 hours ago
Fri Jun 12, 2026 - 10:35 am EDT
(LifeSiteNews) — Dear friends,
On September 24, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be beatified.
Sheen won Emmy Awards, converted American elites, filled Madison Square Garden – and at one point, hosted the most-watched show on television.
But what matters most today is what he told the Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus in June 1972.
Here’s what he said:
Who is going to save the Church? Not our bishops, our priests and religious. It is up to the laity. You have the minds, the eyes, the ears to save the Church.
Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops, and your religious act like religious.
That charge has only grown heavier with the decades.
If you want to help us in this mission, then please give today:
Sheen’s comment raises an obvious question: save the Church from what?
In 1948, Sheen sounded the alarm about a coming “counter-church.”
He warned this “Ape of the Church” 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.
And it’s down to laymen like you and me to fight against it.
LifeSiteNews’ mission is to equip the laity to fulfill the mission given to them by Archbishop Sheen.
We do this by:
- Providing readers with the FACTS about the crisis in the Church and the world
- Holding CORRUPT churchmen to account by reporting the truth
- Encouraging the laity with AUTHENTIC Catholic devotion – such as our First Saturdays series
- Presenting the TRUE doctrine of the Church in our analysis.
Many media outlets are “focusing on what’s good” – or reading it “in light of tradition.”
I’m sorry, this just isn’t good enough.
LifeSiteNews is not going to look for ways to excuse promoters of…
- Homosexual blessings
- Religious indifferentism
- Denigration of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- And a false “Synodal Church”
But you may be asking yourself:
“How can the laity save the Church if the men in the Vatican are allowed to trample over the Catholic Faith unchallenged?”
The first answer is: We can’t. Only God can save his Church.
The second answer is: God wants each one of us to play our parts.
Our role as lay people is to defend the truth.
That’s what we do at LifeSiteNews news. We tell the TRUTH, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
The catastrophic loss of faith in the twentieth century happened, in part, because lay Catholics had less knowledge than now about what was happening in Rome.
They were left at the mercy of Judas Priests who dismantled the religion they’d grown up in.
That must never happen again.
In the last few decades, everything has changed. Thanks to internet outlets like LifeSiteNews, we can know what is happening – and we can fulfil our sacred and solemn duty to defend the faith.
Pope Leo XIII taught that “the chief elements of this duty” are:
“Professing openly and unflinchingly the Catholic doctrine, and in propagating it to the utmost of our power.”
YOU can fulfill this duty by supporting LifeSiteNews with a financial gift this campaign.
Spreading the faith alone is difficult. But together, we can do it through LifeSiteNews.
LifeSiteNews does not charge a subscription fee: we will always provide the truth for free.
But our costs are heavy, and the stakes are higher than ever.
To keep LifeSiteNews’ operations going for the coming quarter, we must raise $750,000 by the end of June.
Without these funds, our ability to equip the laity for the fight against the “Ape Church” will be gravely hampered.
… and I can assure you: the “Ape Church” has all the money it needs.
The enemies of God may be poor in grace, but they have all the financial resources they need to execute Satan’s plan.
If you believe Pope Leo XIII and Archbishop Sheen were right, and that the laity have a crucial role to play, then please act NOW.
Generous donations of $50 and $100 and $250 are what keeps LifeSiteNews’ in the field, defending life, faith, family and freedom against all threats.
These gifts make all the difference in our combat against the Ape Church. We can:
- Hold bishops suppressing the Traditional Latin Mass to account
- Expose those who promote homosexuality and transgenderism in our churches
- Unmask the unholy marriage between the Vatican and the forces of globalism
Sacrificial gifts of $500 and $1000 and even $10,000 can help us build a movement so strong that enemies of the Christian religion won’t be able to stand against us.
We will not give up our fight for Christ the King and His TRUE Church, against the APE Church.
“In propagating Christian truth and warding off errors,” Pope Leo XIII said, “the zeal of the laity should, as far as possible, be brought actively into play.”
Will your zeal prompt you to give $50, $250, or even $500 today to fulfill Sheen’s mission?
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
4 Family Life Lane
Front Royal, VA 22630
CANADIAN MAILING ADDRESS
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PPS: Some people think it’s inappropriate for the laity to involve themselves in the fight for the Church.
“Leave it to God, or the priests,” they say. “Just pray, pray and obey.”
Pope Leo XIII strongly rejected this idea.
“No one,” he said, “must entertain the notion that private individuals are prevented from taking some active part in this duty of teaching, especially those on whom God has bestowed gifts of mind with the strong wish of rendering themselves useful.”
LifeSiteNews reports the news from a faithful Catholic perspective. We use the news as a tool for evangelization.
In the last few months…
- LifeSiteNews’ Frank Wright was caught in a man-on-the-street interview in England. He took the opportunity to call out the true cause of the world’s crisis, and present the return to God as the only solution.
- After this video was shared by Elon Musk on X, Wright has been invited to share the message on Tucker Carlson and other massive outlets – and British rockstar Morrissey has embedded Frank’s LifeSiteNews video on his own site.
- Over three million people saw “erotic thriller” film writer Joe Eszterhas cast doubt on the Four Holy Gospels on Joe Rogan’s podcast. LifeSiteNews quickly refuted him and set the record straight on both the historical authenticity of the Gospels and the morality of such films.
- Another three million saw Senator Ted Cruz share an article attacking Traditional Catholics as “parasites” engaged in a Russian conspiracy against America. LifeSiteNews jumped at the opportunity to explain and proclaim the doctrine of Christ’s Kingship over all societies.
No other news outlet has the same Gospel-focused outlook to reporting the news.
If we fail to raise the $750,000 we need to secure our operations this quarter, nobody else is coming to help you.
We are the only major Catholic media outlet willing to confront corruption in Rome fully.
We can’t allow ourselves to be forced back.
If you don’t want the “Ape Church” to capture your children and lead their souls to Hell – please give to LifeSiteNews today.
Thank you!
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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