Thread by @LauraAnnSTL

🧵Ascension Catholic Church in Chesterfield, Missouri is actively recruiting young men, ages 18-29, to join their newly-formed militia.

Chesterfield has a violent crime rate of 0.71 per 1,000 residents, compared to 4 nationally and 4.88 in MO. @MomsDemand @Everytown

The purpose of this militia is to “protect the Church from violent and non-violent attacks but also bring young men back to the Faith.”

52 Archdiocese of St. Louis parishes have closed in the last 10 years, 48 of which closed in 2023. Soldier cosplay won’t fix that.

This is only the beginning and they hope to spread their armed religious extremism across the world.

“Ascension Parish in Chesterfield, MO has been chosen as the testing ground for the militia and, if successful, we hope to establish platoons at parishes around the world.”

If Ascension Church sounds familiar, it should. The Archdiocese of St. Louis paid out a $1.7 million settlement in 2004 & $1 million settlement in 2023 for the sexual abuse by a priest at Ascension Catholic Church. Same priest both times, different victim. stltoday.com/news/local/met…

Here’s what you can do:

•Submit a tip to @MoPublicSafety at

•Speak with your priest and ask/demand that they put pressure on the archdiocese to end this.

•Contact the STL archdiocese at 314-792-7005

•Contact Ascension Church at 636-532-3304 tinyurl.com/2yhjsyuc

Armed extremism has no place in our society, including our places of worship. This fear mongering of the church being under attack and the need to take up arms to “defend the congregation, clergy, and Eucharist” is a breeding ground for more gun violence.

Ascension Catholic Church knows they’re in the wrong. They’re telling callers that it’s a “hoax.” They removed the online application. They removed the June 16 bulletin where this was advertised from their website.

For the love of god-stop giving the Catholic Church your money.

And to be clear, this is not a hoax or a mistake as the church is claiming. This was a full page ad on the 5th page of Assumption’s weekly bulletin, which typically consists of 16 pages. This was intentional. @MomsDemand @Everytown

@MomsDemand @Everytown *Ascension, not Assumption.