FBI Targets Catholic “Extremists” — Then Gets Caught

By CHRISTOPHER MANION

Here in Virginia, a leaked document reveals that the FBI has targeted Catholics who “prefer the Latin Mass,” among others, as likely covens of “white supremacy.” (See related story on p. 8A of this week’s issue.)
The lengthy January 23, 2023 memo authored by an “intelligence analyst” for the Richmond Field Office of the FBI bore an interesting title: “Interest Of Racially Or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists And Radical — Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Present New Mitigation Opportunities.”
Several passages bear citing in full:
“FBI Richmond assesses the increasingly observed interest of racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVES) and radical-traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology almost certainly presents opportunities for threat mitigation to the exploration of new avenues for tripwire and source development.”
“FBI Richmond makes this assessment with high confidence based on FBI investigations, local law enforcement agency reporting, and liaison reporting, with varying degrees of corroboration and access.”
“FBI Richmond will continue to attempt to connect with the RTC adherence, both virtually via social media and in person at places of worship. RTC’s are typically characterized by the rejection of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) as a valid Church council; disdain for most of the popes elected since Vatican II, particularly pro-Francis and Pope John Paul II, and frequent adherence to antisemitic and an immigrant anti-LGBTQ and white supremacist ideology.”
Federal bureaucrats love acronyms, but they evidently hate Catholics. If this memo is any indicator, they hate pro-lifers too.
And what’s the action item? The “expert” expresses “high confidence” that the FBI can mitigate the threat of Radical-Traditionalist Catholics by recruiting sources within the Catholic Church.
This incident is troubling on several levels. It reflects the overall left-secular consciousness that prevails in the deep state. It reflects the justice departments channeling of Joe Biden’s hatred of pro-lifers down to the ground level. It reflects the lingering hatred of genuine Catholicism that has prevailed since before the Founding. It reflects the laziness that pervades the Deep State bureaucracy, since it was based on two notorious left-wing public sources.
Moreover, because we have seen it only because it was leaked to a Twitter source who is apparently a veteran of the FBI, and such disclosure is rare indeed, it indicates that there are many more memos like it that have not been leaked.
The FBI has acknowledged the memo, apologized, and withdrawn it. If the guilty agent is not immediately identified and fired, we can assume that the same Gestapo attitude towards the suppression of Potential Enemies of the State prevails throughout the Justice Department, and that business as usual will continue.
As we look left and right in the pews to see who might be the latest paid FBI informant in our parish, we must bear in mind that this is exactly that fear that the Leviathan state wants to provoke.

A Strong Response —
Is It Enough?

On February 10, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares released a statement sternly condemning the FBI.
“Virginia is the birthplace of religious freedom and has a long history of protecting the inalienable right to live your faith free from government interference or intimidation. The leaked memo from our state capital’s FBI office is unacceptable, unconstitutional, and un-American. Frankly, it’s what I would expect from Communist Cuba,” he wrote.
“As Attorney General, I’m responsible for defending Virginians’ rights, and religious freedom is the bedrock of the Constitutions of the United States and of Virginia. Virginians should not and will not be labeled ‘violent extremists’ by their government because of how they worship, or because of their beliefs,” he said in a statement.
Miyares’ statement was joined by the Attorneys General of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
On February 13, Richmond Bishop Barry Knestout thanked A.G. Miyares and followed up with his own statement:
“People of all faith groups have long found refuge in the constitutional protections of our great nation,” he wrote. “We all seek to share in God’s gift of life, enjoy the fruits of liberty that our nation offers and assist one another in ensuring the common good.
“I was alarmed to read the reports written late last week about the contents of the internal memo created by the Richmond Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I was also surprised to learn of the mention of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP), a religious order, which celebrates the traditional form of the Catholic Mass. FSSP has served with devotion for many years the parishes within our Catholic community and to the faithful of our diocese who appreciate this form of the Catholic Mass in our diocese.
“The leaked document should be troubling and offensive to all communities of faith, as well as all Americans. I am grateful for the Virginia Attorney General and 19 attorneys general who have called upon the government to publicly release all materials related to the production of this memo. If evidence of extremism exists, it should be rooted out, but not at the expense of religious freedom. A preference for traditional forms of worship and holding closely to the Church’s teachings on marriage, family, human sexuality, and the dignity of the human person does not equate with extremism.”

The FBI: Guilty As Charged

Eighteen years ago, Dick Cheney illegally subverted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to allow the federal government to spy on Americans.
This week Mark Udall, former Democrat senator of Colorado, and Bob Goodlatte, former Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote that it’s time to stop the bipartisan and illegal spying on innocent American citizens.
“Federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies have only themselves to blame for endangering what they claim is a critical tool for American national security. They have tortured the plain meaning of the law to transform an authority for catching foreign terrorists and spies into a system of mass surveillance of the American people,” they wrote.
The authors point to what Cheney didn’t want Americans to know — he even kept it from George W. Bush.
Udall and Goodlatte spell it out:
“The National Security Agency collects billions of text messages, emails, and internet metadata — including Americans’ communications as well as those of foreigners — ‘downstream’ from email accounts, social media platforms, and search engines, and ‘upstream’ from the internet backbone. Congress wrote Section 702 to specifically forbid the targeting of people inside the United States, but the FBI and NSA have fought tooth-and-nail to avoid even estimating this authority’s impact on Americans.”
That’s right. Public Enemy Number One is none other than the FBI. Should Catholics be surprised that “Catholic Joe” Biden has spitefully told them to target us?
Among the long list of FBI abuses cited by Udall and Goodlatte, we find this:
“The FBI uses Section 702-derived data to conduct ‘backdoor’ searches for Americans’ communications, sidestepping the Constitution’s requirement for a warrant. An annual report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence last April disclosed that the FBI in a recent 12-month period conducted as many as 3.4 million such warrantless searches.”
Please note that each of these breaches constitutes a federal crime, a felony. Given the vast scope of this institutional corruption, is it any surprise that in the name of fighting terrorism, Cheney created what the NSA’s John Drake called a “Turnkey Tyranny.” All of the structure and technology were there, patiently waiting for a wannabe tyrant to use it.
The Big Tech-Radical Dem-Deep State cabal has now turned the key. It’s time to get it back before they throw it away.