Catholic Bishop Barry Knestout, the leader of the Diocese of Richmond, said early last week that he was “alarmed” by the Richmond FBI memo.

“The leaked document should be troubling and offensive to all communities of faith, as well as all Americans,” Knestout said, adding, “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.” …

Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan, chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said late last week, “I agree with my brother Bishop Barry Knestout that the leaked memorandum was nonetheless ‘troubling and offensive’ in several respects – such as in its religious profiling and reliance on dubious sourcing – and am glad it has been rescinded.” Dolan added: “We encourage federal law enforcement authorities to take appropriate measures to ensure the problematic aspects of the memo do not recur in any of their agencies’ work going forward.”

[The attempt to paint rad-trads as some sort of threat to the democratic order was absurd in the first place. Their beef is with the Vatican, not Washington DC. It’s yet another indication that federal law enforcement is being weaponized against the First Amendment. — Ed]