OutletsPublication
LifeSiteNews
Est. 1997lifesitenews.com(opens the outlet’s own site in a new tab)No analyses yet
About LifeSiteNews
LifeSiteNews is a pro-life and Catholic news and opinion website. It grew out of the Canadian lobbying group Campaign Life Coalition in 1997; a charity listing for the organization says the coalition's international work led to the site's development as an international news service (Benevity listing). Its founding staff were Steve Jalsevac and John-Henry Westen (Catholic Speakers profile). Westen served as editor-in-chief from the founding, and the outlet publishes on abortion, Church news and politics (CatholicVote).
In February 2021 YouTube permanently removed the LifeSiteNews channel, which had more than 300,000 subscribers, citing repeated violations of its COVID-19 misinformation policy. LifeSiteNews said it was not told what specific video triggered the final strike, and it continued posting video on Rumble (CNA via National Catholic Register; The Federalist).
On July 8, 2025, LifeSiteNews announced that, following a board vote, Westen was no longer CEO and editor-in-chief (LifeSiteNews on X). On July 18 it announced that he had been reinstated as president and CEO (CatholicVote), and in September 2025 it said an outside investigation had cleared him of wrongdoing (Catholic Herald).
The site's Church coverage is frequently critical of Vatican leadership. In 2026 it has run headlines describing Pope Leo XIV's planned attendance at the 40th-anniversary interreligious gathering in Assisi as a "scandalous" event with leaders of "false religions", and presenting a Rome meeting on Amoris Laetitia as an effort to entrench a document it calls "heretical". It has also reported Cardinal Arthur Roche's statement that the Pope will not overturn restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass. See papal-critique and resistance media.
LifeSiteNews has also published Viganò's argument that a "Masonic takeover" of the Church began with Vatican II and reports promoting claims that Archbishop Annibale Bugnini was a Freemason (LifeSiteNews; LifeSiteNews); see Freemasonry and conspiracy claims.
On the timeline
Full timelineThe 8 most recent of 9 dated events, newest first.
Viganò says Leo XIV's Élysée speech promotes the 'exact opposite of the Magisterium'
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, declared excommunicated for schism in 2024, posted a critique on X of Leo XIV's 25 September address at the Élysée Palace, which LifeSiteNews republished. He objected to the speech's favourable references to…
SourcesArchbishop Viganò: Leo XIV promotes 'exact opposite of the Magisterium' (LifeSiteNews (republishing a statement first posted on X by Archbishop Viganò))Apostolic Journey to France: Meeting with the Authorities, Civil Society and… (The Holy See (vatican.va))
SSPX pilgrims barred from Martyrs' Shrine church in Midland under Toronto ban
On the feast of the Canadian Martyrs, the SSPX's national pilgrimage to the Martyrs' Shrine in Midland, Ontario, could not enter the shrine church or venerate the relics there, after the Archdiocese of Toronto under Cardinal Frank Leo…
SourcesSSPX accepts 'without bitterness' cardinal's ban on entering shrine church (LifeSiteNews)Canada: Pilgrimage to the Holy Martyrs Despite the Ban by the Cardinal of… (FSSPX.News)
At Notre-Dame, Leo XIV ties liturgy to unity with Peter's successor; trad outlets react
At Vespers with French clergy and religious in Notre-Dame Cathedral on the first day of his visit to France, Leo XIV urged that the liturgy be celebrated "with dignity and decorum" (InfoVaticana's rendering) and asked his listeners to…
Bishop Strickland urges Catholics to reject Vatican note on interreligious dialogue
On the day the Vatican published A Journey of Hope, its note marking sixty years of Nostra Aetate, Bishop Joseph Strickland wrote on X that the statement "must be rejected and repudiated by all who hold Jesus Christ and His Church as the…
LifeSiteNews board removes co-founder John-Henry Westen; he is reinstated July 18
LifeSiteNews announced that, after a board vote, co-founder John-Henry Westen was no longer CEO and editor-in-chief. On July 18, 2025, CatholicVote reported that he had been reinstated as president and CEO, with the board's decision…
Strickland addresses the LifeSiteNews-sponsored Rome Life Forum
At the Rome Life Forum, Strickland read from a letter by an unnamed friend that, according to OSV News, called Pope Francis a usurper of Peter's chair, and himself accused the pope of backing an attack on the sacred.
YouTube permanently removes the LifeSiteNews channel
YouTube terminated the LifeSiteNews channel, which had more than 300,000 subscribers, citing repeated violations of its COVID-19 misinformation policy. LifeSiteNews said it was not told which video triggered the final strike and continued…
SourcesYouTube's Permanent Ban on LifeSiteNews Prompts Censorship Concerns (Catholic News Agency (via National Catholic Register))Google-owned YouTube deplatforms pro-life group LifeSiteNews (The Federalist)
Viganò open letter to President Trump on a 'deep state' and 'deep church'
An open letter from Archbishop Viganò dated 7 June 2020 and published by LifeSiteNews framed the pandemic and U.S. protests as part of a spiritual battle and described a 'deep state' and a 'deep church'. President Trump praised it on…
SourcesTweet from Trump puts controversial Archbishop Viganò back into US politics (National Catholic Reporter)Trump tweet latest twist in Archbishop Vigano saga (Catholic World Report)
Sources for this profile
- LIFESITENEWS COM INC — Benevity Causes
- John-Henry Westen — Catholic Speakers Organization
- LifeSiteNews co-founder no longer editor-in-chief, outlet announces — CatholicVote, Jul 8, 2025
- John-Henry Westen reinstated as LifeSite President and CEO — CatholicVote, Jul 18, 2025
- LifeSiteNews Press Statement — LifeSiteNews (X), Jul 8, 2025
- John-Henry Westen cleared of all wrongdoing — The Catholic Herald
- YouTube's Permanent Ban on LifeSiteNews Prompts Censorship Concerns — Catholic News Agency (via National Catholic Register)
- Google-owned YouTube deplatforms pro-life group LifeSiteNews — The Federalist, Feb 10, 2021
- Leo XIV to join over 300 leaders of false religions at scandalous Assisi gathering — LifeSiteNews
- Leo XIV summons world's bishops to entrench 'heretical' Amoris Laetitia — LifeSiteNews
- Pope Leo will not overturn Francis' Latin Mass restrictions: Cardinal Roche — LifeSiteNews
- Archbishop Viganò: The Masonic takeover of the Catholic Church began with Vatican II — LifeSiteNews
- Was the chief architect behind the New Mass a Freemason? New evidence emerges — LifeSiteNews
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