The Pope and the FBI
As one of those traditional Roman Catholics who has somehow fallen under the baleful scowl of both the FBI and the Supreme Pontiff at the very same time, I have to admit I find myself somewhat stupefied as to how this could have happened. After all, even with the catastrophic decline in Catholic practice in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, [1] the Roman Catholic faith itself has not changed. The average U. S. Catholic of 70 years ago – who today would be labeled as extreme – would never have been deemed a threat to either Church or State simply for wholeheartedly accepting the tenets of his faith. Yet today’s most loyal disciples of that faith are actually regarded as threats to the well-being of the Church and the nation. This is hard to fathom.
But here we are, under edict from the pope, [2, 3] and under investigation by the FBI. [4] This very strange juxtaposition of accusers has to be recognized as an extraordinary circumstance. I am not proposing conspiracies – but I am suggesting a remarkable convergence of views between the pope and the FBI. The whole thing is troubling: what possible activities could certain traditional Catholics be engaged in which both violate their religious beliefs and at the same time cause them to be suspected of potential criminal violence?
The infamous recent FBI intelligence document is built around a theory proposing the existence of an inimical subset of Catholics designated as Radical Traditional Catholics (RTCs), who embrace something called the “RTC ideology.” These RTCs are assessed to be so radical that they have even attracted the interest of violent domestic extremists, a species of dangerous folk about whom the FBI seems to know quite a bit. But there is no hard evidence cited to substantiate the existence of said RTCs, or their ideology, and the whole RTC concept seems to have been borrowed from a patently non-credible source, the rabidly progressive group known as the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The SPLC defines RTCs as “the largest single group of serious antisemites in America,” [5] since apparently these Catholics have committed the unpardonable sin of questioning the teaching of the Second Vatican Council regarding the Jews. This is simply absurd: concerns with the Council document at issue, Nostra Aetate, have to do with that document’s failure to address the true status of the Jewish religion – not the Jewish people:
“ . . .Nostra Aetate fails to make a crucial distinction between Jews as individuals and the Jewish religion. True, Jews are not under a curse that precludes their salvation, since our sacred history is rife with Jewish converts who left the religion of the synagogue and embraced the Catholic Church. What is today called the Jewish religion, however, is not of God, since it is based on a rejection of the Messiah. Our Lord warned the Jews of His day, “Therefore I say to you, that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a people yielding its fruits. (Matt: 21: 43)” [6]
That SPLC web page entitled “Radical Traditional Catholicism” goes on to identify several conservative Roman Catholic organizations as hate groups, and also accuses these Catholics of another unforgiveable sin, that of harboring “extremely conservative social ideals with respect to women.” The FBI document goes even further, embellishing its portrayal of the nefarious “RTC Ideology” by attributing an assortment of sinister attitudes and beliefs to RTCs in various places throughout the document, such as:
- Rejection of Vatican II
- Harboring disdain for post-Vatican II popes
- Demonstrating anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, white supremacist, and anti-LGBTQ ideologies
- Demonstrating hostility toward abortion rights activists
- Using “Crusader”references
- Opposing affirmative action
This is quite an eclectic and impressive list of aggravated faults for one single wayward group to have achieved. It seems a little too impressive. One wonders, for example, what “rejection of Vatican II” and “disdain for post-Vatican II popes” has to do with white supremacy, or anti-LGBTQ ideology, or anti-abortion hostility. And what might possibly be considered criminal about using Crusader references?
Since the FBI characterization of RTCs does not clearly indicate likely criminal activity by Catholics of any stripe, then we are left with the question as to what the actual FBI interest is in probing traditional Catholic parishes. The answer to that question can be found in the FBI document’s references to moral issues which are legitimately relevant to orthodox Roman Catholic doctrine and to which traditional Roman Catholics remain faithful, unlike the majority of Catholics today. The FBI accusations that traditional Catholics are adamantly opposed to abortion and the various forms of sexual perversion, otherwise known in the pagan parlance of the day as “LGBTQ+ . . .”, are accurate. However, both the SPLC and the FBI have conflated Catholic opposition to particular immoral behaviors with Catholic hatred of the persons committing those behaviors. This deception brands Catholics who are loyal to their Christian faith and steadfast in their love of God and neighbor as, instead, malevolent people who are likely to commit violence. Thus Catholic opposition to the immoral progressive sexual agenda is recast as hatred.
The FBI intelligence analyst emphasizes that ordinary traditional Catholics are not being fingered, just the radicals – while at the same time recommending the infiltration of ordinary traditional Catholic parishes. But it is easy to foresee the outcome of that approach: the FBI spies who insinuate themselves into these parishes will find ample evidence of exactly what they are looking for – opposition to the various LGBTQetc sexual perversions and abortion. And that evidence – that the FBI sees as hatred – will be the springboard used to justify further investigation and then persecution of traditional Catholics.
This sort of activity by the FBI is by now no longer a surprise. The progressive agenda demonstrated here is consistent with the other ongoing forms of government torment of those who hold traditional values, including the bizarre and excessively forceful arrests of abortion protesters at their homes, [7] or the investigations of parents who publicly oppose school boards. [8] And even though the FBI officially retracted the problematic intelligence document, the erroneous content was not repudiated – the FBI merely stated that it “did not meet the exacting standards of the FBI.” [9] As the government accrues ever more power to itself, and constitutional protections continue to be further degraded, a reasonable expectation is that the oppression will accelerate. Secular ferocity toward Catholics has reccured throughout history in various eras, as with the French Revolution, or the Spanish Civil War, or the persecution of Catholics in Mexico in the early 20th century. It may even be that another period of wholesale martyrdom like that experienced under the Roman emperors is approaching. Given the rapidity of the cultural degradation in the U.S. over the last few decades, it is certainly within the realm of possibility. But that should not unduly disturb Catholics – the blood of martyrs has been a fruitful part of the Catholic life and faith over the centuries, and the saints we revere frequently sought the opportunity to give their lives for the faith.
While government maltreatment is nothing new to Catholics, what is novel and startling and significant is the pope’s aggression toward part of his flock for the sin of fidelity both to the traditional liturgy and the doctrines of the Church. I know that Cardinal Mueller distinguishes between “material” and “formal” heresies in order to defend the legitimacy of the papal office, but I doubt that such a fine distinction matters much to the ordinary Catholic scandalized by the words and actions of this radical pope. [10] The really intriguing thing is that the pope’s resentment of traditional Catholics is very similar in its substance to the FBI’s displeasure with those same Catholics. The pope has railed about traditional Catholics on multiple occasions, accusing them of dangerous “rigidity,” and of harboring “backwardist” tendencies. [11, 12] And what is it that those testy traditional Catholics are so rigid about in the eyes of the pope? Precisely the same convictions that the FBI finds so offensive: those involving morality, especially sexual morality. There is no doubt that the pope wants to relax the “rigid” code of Catholic sexual morality. His words are tricky and slippery, hovering always on the edge of legitimacy. John Daniel Davidson of the Federalist states it well:
“He is intentionally vague about matters that should be clear-cut, and this vagueness sows confusion. Why would he want to sow confusion? To open up room for change. Indeed, one way to interpret the pope’s muddled remarks about blessing homosexual unions is that he’s opening the door to radical change in Catholic practice without technically changing Catholic doctrine (something the pope, in any case, cannot do).” [13]
Catholics who consciously bind themselves to that which the Church has consistently taught over the course of two millenia have become a threat to the new Church that the pope is attempting to forge – while at the same time they constitute a threat to the aggressively progressive social order that the government, in concert with all of the other elites in U.S. society, wants to establish. It should grab our attention and make us think hard that these two powerful entities – one in the secular realm and one in the spiritual – are pursuing the same objective, the destruction of the moral order laid down by Jesus Christ. It speaks of the tremendous breadth and scope of this current attack on truth and the Church, an onslaught which may well rival that of the Arian heresy.
However, of the two assaults, the one which really matters to Catholics is the spiritual. The government and its various instruments of power, while fully capable of making our lives miserable, are really irrelevant in the battle for the faith. The real threat is coming from within the Church. Admittedly, the outlook is grim at the current time. The papal agenda grinds forward, with little opposition from the bishops. The “Synod on Synodality” threatens to disgorge a flood of distortions of the faith. [14, 15] In all likelihood, the devastation and winnowing of the Roman Catholic Church precipitated by Vatican II will accelerate and proceed unabated, and we can realistically expect a far smaller orthodox Catholic Church in the future, as foreseen by Cardinal Ratzinger in 1969. [16] While the continuing loss of souls implicit in this culling is a terrible tragedy, it is still not grounds for despair – rather, it should rally us to fight for the pure and unadulterated vision of life that Jesus has given us. We must do everything we can to preserve the foundational moral doctrines of Christianity, because the sacramental pillars of our daily life depend on them. The sanctity of marriage, for example, is meaningless if marriage is redefined in accordance with some perverse view of human sexuality. What is the meaning of the Sacrament of Penance, if the Commandments are not accepted as the criteria by which we identify sin? And then there is the Holy Eucharist, the worthy reception of which requires recipients to possess the state of grace. It should be unimaginable that the Church would endeavor to systematically and purposely and routinely violate the Holy Eucharist – yet today we face that very prospect.
It is difficult to foresee anything but adversity ahead for the Church in the 21st century, and in the near term there isn’t much that can be done to forestall the impending trials. The forces of the wicked that have been unleashed have been building for a long time and will run their course. As Bishop Strickland stated recently:
“‘But we have to acknowledge there are tremendous and powerful forces at work in the world,’ he stressed. ‘Saint Paul reminds us that we’re not fighting against human beings, flesh and blood; we’re fighting the powers and principalities of evil.’” [17]
Taking Bishop Strickland’s words to heart, we can prepare ourselves for that spiritual combat, and intensify our use of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and the sacraments. Imagine the impact if ordinary Catholics put aside the nominal practice of their faith, and became fervent Catholics. Then perhaps the turmoil so obviously heading our way will eventually result in a stronger Church, because we the faithful will have fought for her, once again, as in many prior centuries.
References.
1. Masci, David and Smith, Gregory A. “7 Facts about American Catholics.” Pew Research Center. October 10, 2018 https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/10/10/7-facts-about-american-catholics/
2. Francis. “Traditionis Custodes. APOSTOLIC LETTER ISSUED “MOTU PROPRIO” BY THE SUPREME PONTIFF FRANCIS On the Use of the Roman Liturgy Prior to the Reform of 1970.” The Vatican. July 16, 2021. vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/20210716-motu-proprio-traditionis-custodes.html
3. “Letter of the Holy Father Francis to all bishops worldwide to present the Motu proprio “Traditionis custodes” on the use of the Roman liturgy prior to the Reform of 1970.” The Vatican. July 16, 2021
https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2021/07/16/210716c.html
4. Seraphin, Kyle. “The FBI Doubles Down on Christians and White Supremacy in 2023.” UncoverDC. February 8, 2023. https://uncoverdc.com/2023/02/08/the-fbi-doubles-down-on-christians-and-white-supremacy-in-2023/
5. “Radical Traditional Catholicism.” Southern Poverty Law Center. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/radical-traditional-catholicism
6. “Judaism & the Church: before & after Vatican II.” Society of Saint Pius X, District of the USA. January 24, 2013. https://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/judaism-church-after-vatican-ii-1342
7. von Spakovsky, Hans A. and Stimson, Charles “Cully.” “FBI, Justice Department Twist Federal Law to Arrest, Charge Pro-Life Activist.” The Heritage Foundation. September 28, 2022. https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/commentary/fbi-justice-department-twist-federal-law-arrest-charge-pro-life
8. Poff, Jeremiah. “FBI opened multiple investigations into protesting parents, GOP lawmakers say.” Washington Examiner. May 12, 2022. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/fairness-justice/fbi-opened-multiple-investigations-into-protesting-parents-gop-lawmakers-say]
9. Arnold, Tyler and Bukuras, Joe. “FBI retracts leaked document orchestrating investigation of Catholics.” Catholic News Agency. February 9, 2023. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253600/fbi-retracts-leaked-document-orchestrating-investigation-of-catholics
10. Wailzer, Andrea and Hickson, Maike. “Cardinal Müller: Some statements by Pope Francis could be understood as material heresy.” Lifesite News. November 9, 2023. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/exclusive-cardinal-muller-says-francis-has-uttered-material-heresy-but-is-still-the-pope/
11. Haynes, Michael. “Pope Francis says new council unnecessary as Vatican II ‘has not yet been implemented.’” Lifesite News. August 4, 2023. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-says-new-council-unnecessary-as-vatican-ii-has-not-yet-been-implemented/
12. Brockhaus, Hanna. “Pope Francis Laments When ‘Ideology Replaces Faith’ in Segment of U.S. Catholics.” Catholic News Agency.August 28, 2023. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255206/pope-francis-laments-when-ideology-replaces-faith-in-segment-of-us-catholics
13. Davidson, John Daniel. “All Christians, Not Just Catholics, Should Be Worried About Pope Francis’ Synod.” The Federalist. October 9th 2023 https://thefederalist.com/2023/10/09/all-christians-not-just-catholics-should-be-worried-about-pope-francis-synod/
14. Haynes, Michael. “Pope Francis’ ‘synodal process’ is opening the gates of unrestrained heterodoxy.” LifeSite News. November 6, 2023. https://www.lifesitenews.com/analysis/pope-francis-synodal-process-is-opening-the-gates-of-unrestrained-heterodoxy/
15. Pentin, Edward. “Cardinal Müller Says Synod on Synodality Is Being Used by Some to Prepare the Church to Accept False Teaching.” National Catholic Register. October 276, 2023. https://www.ncregister.com/interview/cardinal-mueller-says-synod-on-synodality-is-being-used-by-some-to-prepare-the-church-to-accept-false-teaching
16. Warner, Tod. “When Father Joseph Ratzinger Predicted the Future of the Church.” Aleteia. June 13, 2016. https://aleteia.org/2016/06/13/when-cardinal-joseph-ratzinger-predicted-the-future-of-the-church/
17. Wailzer, Andreas. “Bishop Strickland: I was removed because forces in the Church want to change the teaching of Jesus.” Lifesite News. November 13, 2023. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bishop-strickland-i-was-removed-because-forces-in-the-church-what-to-change-the-teaching-of-jesus/