UOJ-USA Announces New General Editor: Michael W. Davis

Readers will likely be familiar with the name Michael Warren Davis. Not only has he written quite a bit for UOJ, but prior to converting to Orthodoxy, Michael worked in Catholic media for nearly a decade. He previously served as a contributing editor at The American Conservative, editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine, and U.S. editor of the Catholic Herald. He and his wife have three children and are members of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).

Michael and Ben sat down to give readers a deeper look into Michael himself and his journey to Orthodoxy and the UOJ.

Ben: So, you were a Catholic—Eastern Catholic—how did you go from Eastern Catholic to Orthodoxy? To put that another way: Eastern Catholics like to say that the Unia is simply "Orthodoxy in communion with Rome" and therefore it is "more Orthodox than Orthodoxy," so why make the switch?

Michael: Eastern Catholics are amazing people. We were blessed with a terrific pastor and a terrific priest. I even worked for an Eastern Catholic bishop for a time. So, I’ve got nothing but love for our friends in the Unia.

But I like to say that Eastern Catholics have everything the Orthodox do… except for Orthodoxy. They don’t have the Orthodox Faith. They’re not governed by the holy canons. They’re not in communion with the Body of Christ: the Orthodox Catholic Church.

That probably sounds like a dry answer. But Fr. Alexander Schmemann said that the Church isn’t an institution. It’s a relationship: a relationship with God, with the saints, with our fellow Orthodox Christians. I definitely feel it.

Ben: You were already a fairly established writer by the time you had converted, how did this weigh on your decision to convert and the experience itself, did you face a lot of backlash? If so, how did you handle that?

Michael: Yeah, it was tough. I lost my job. Actually, I lost two jobs. I lost a book deal. I lost a couple of friends. It really strained my relationship with some Catholic family members.

But it was worth it. That’s what the “Pearl of Great Price” is all about. You have to sell everything you have so you can buy it. You don’t have to—like, no one will force you. But you can’t help it. You just have to have it. Nothing can keep you away.

Ben: Obviously the readers won't know this, but you were one of the first people we reached out to when we decided to establish UOJ-USA, and you were really excited about the project. What was it about the UOJ that excited you and what does the UOJ mean to you, put another way, what are you hoping the UOJ is able to accomplish?

Michael: I started covering the persecution of the canonical Church in Ukraine well before I became Orthodox. Of course, the UOJ’s reporting was indispensable.

But it was more than that. Most “religious journalism” is just people giving their opinions and calling it Christianity. There’s always some insane, political bias. The rest is fluff.

The UOJ is different. It keeps Orthodox Christians informed about what’s going on in the world and in the Church. It has a bias, but it’s a pro-Orthodox bias. It promotes the growth of Orthodoxy in the United States and around the world. It highlights the good work being done by every jurisdiction: GOARCH, OCA, Antiochian, ROCOR, all of them.

But the UOJ isn’t afraid to call out wrongdoing, too. It stands up to powerful actors, both in the Church and the State, when they act against Holy Orthodoxy and Orthodox Christians.

Ben: Well said. What are some topics you plan on writing on in the near future that readers can look forward to?

Michael: I’ve been doing a lot of work on the penetration of occultism into Traditionalist Catholic circles.

I’m also working on a longer piece explaining why Eastern Catholicism is no substitute for Orthodoxy. We’ll go into the history of the Unia and why the Vatican is trying to distance itself from them.

I’ve also got some original reporting I’m working on, but I don’t want to spoil it!

Ben: Outside of writing for UOJ, you write on Yankee Athonite on Substack, you've written a couple books. What other writing, perhaps larger projects do you have in the works and how can readers find and support those projects?

Michael: Yes, I write a Substack newsletter, Yankee Athonite.

I’m also the CEO of a new Orthodox publishing company, Spruce Island Books. We’re the official publishing partner of the Diocese of Alaska. Our first title is coming out in a couple of months: Daily Prayers of the Orthodox Church. If you’d like to learn more, subscribe to my Substack and we’ll keep in touch.

Ben: Michael, thank you so much. Really looking forward to working together and taking UOJ-USA to the next level.