Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson invited a group of Catholics to the Capitol building Tuesday to celebrate a Traditional Latin Mass.
The mass comes on the first year anniversary of the FBI’s memo targeting “traditionalist” Catholic groups as being prone toward extremism in the run up to the 2024 election, The Pillar reported. (RELATED: FBI’s ‘Radical, Traditional Catholic’ Probe Was Wider Than Director Claimed, Newly Unredacted Document Shows)
Johnson expressed ire at the memo in a letter written in August 2023. He said the FBI’s testimony before Congress was not done with full candor, and “contempt proceedings” against the FBI were being weighed. Ahead of Tuesday’s mass, Johnson told The Pillar he was still not satisfied with the FBI’s conduct.
“It’s the weaponization of the Department of Justice itself and the FBI, and it’s a very, very harmful thing and something that we must stop,” the Speaker told the outlet.
‘Weaponization’ — House Speaker on FBI and ‘traditionalist’ Catholics https://t.co/BkIHZeAyHk
— Ilan Hulkower (@IHulkower) January 23, 2024
“Open source reporting and FBI investigations have noted a growing overlap between the far-right white nationalist movement and RTCs [radical traditionalist Catholic] … The ongoing convergence of the far-right white nationalist movement and RTCs was further demonstrated through the increase in hostility toward abortion-rights advocates on social media sites in the run-up to and aftermath of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade,” the FBI’s memo read in part.
The FBI memo recommended that law enforcement engage in increased surveillance of these communities through utilizing “existing sources,” developing new contacts and creating a rapport with community faith leaders so they could detect signs of radicalization among their congregation.
The memo caused uproar when it was leaked to the general public. Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, Bishop Barry C. Knestout and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares all condemned the memo using strong language, The Arlington Catholic Herald reported.
“It should be troubling and offensive to all communities of faith as well as to all Americans,” Bishop Burbidge remarked. The priest stated he was shocked to find out the memo described a religious order as extremist due to its celebration of traditional Latin Mass. “To be linked in any way because of the way you worship or live and practice your faith, and to be labeled as an extremist and a threat to society, it is … outrageous.”
“I call on all national representatives from the Commonwealth of Virginia in the House and Senate to exercise their role of oversight, to publicly condemn this threat to religious liberty, and to ensure that such offenses against the constitutionally protected free exercise of religion do not occur again,” Bishop Knestout said.
Miyares similarly called the document “unacceptable, unconstitutional and un-American.”