Isn’t the FBI’s reputation with much of the public already far enough in the toilet without tossing something like this onto the bonfire? A recently leaked internal FBI memo from their Richmond office warned agents about the lurking danger of “radical traditionalist Catholic ideology” (RTC ideology). The document spoke of “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism,” suggesting that anyone who prefers to attend traditional Latin mass is somehow prone to racism or xenophobia and violence or whatever. Oh, and they allegedly also tend to be anti-Semites, so they’re probably out there attacking synagogues. Honestly… you just can’t make this stuff up. (National Review)

The FBI’s Richmond field office released an internal memo last month warning against “radical traditionalist Catholic ideology,” and claiming it “almost certainly presents new mitigation opportunities,” according to a document shared by an FBI whistleblower on Wednesday.

Kyle Seraphin, who was a special agent at the bureau for six years before he was indefinitely suspended without pay in June 2022, published the document, “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities,” on UncoverDC.com.

“In making this assessment, FBI Richmond relied on the key assumption that [racially or ethnically motivated extremists] will continue to find [radical-traditionalist Catholic or RTC] ideology attractive and will continue to attempt to connect with RTC adherents, both virtually via social media and in-person at places of worship,” the document from January 23 states.

As insane as this sounds, it starts to make a little more sense when you learn the source of the warning that led to this memo. It came from the Southern Poverty Law Center. The SPLC, which was once a well-regarded civil rights organization, is now essentially a bought and paid-for militant arm of the progressive movement. They will condemn anyone who espouses unapproved views as a “danger” or a “threat” to preferred minority groups and most of the legacy media, unfortunately, treats their diatribes as serious news.

This particular bit of madness is made even more ironic when you look at what’s been going on around the country over the past few years. As Teri Christoph reminded us at RedState yesterday, there were 278 attacks on Catholic churches in 2020 alone. (They were a favorite target during the BLM riots.) And since the question of abortion was returned to the states last year by the Supreme Court, attacks on both churches and Catholic crisis pregnancy centers have been increasingly common, including incidents of firebombing.

As we’ve seen, the FBI has done little more than pay lip service to the arson attacks on pregnancy centers, while they attempted (and thankfully failed) to throw a pastor in prison for more than a decade for singing bible hymns in an abortion clinic. It’s no wonder that public faith in the Bureau is cratering. And incidents such as this one only further validate the need for the new House panel that will be looking into the political weaponization of law enforcement under the Biden administration.

Meanwhile, might the FBI be willing to point out a few examples of these alleged mobs of violent racists who happen to be able to speak Latin? I’m willing to bet that there have been some individuals who wound up getting into trouble and who also attended Catholic church services at some time in their life. But that’s very different than finding a church where militant activist groups are recruiting new members and meeting in the basement of St. Josephs.

On top of that, Church-goers who attempt to follow Catholic doctrine should be less prone to violence, at least in theory. You may recall some portions of the New Testament that forbid violence in nearly any circumstances, preferring to leave justice in the hands of the Lord. Yes, everyone falls victim to sin from time to time, but the types of attacks the FBI is warning against should be antithetical to the church’s followers. This entire story is yet another example of how the world feels like everything is going crazy these days.